Possibly my favorite sci-fi film of the 90s

Rating: Null/10 (7 December 1999)

I've heard more than one person compare this film to Blade Runner (one [out of several] of my favorite sci-fi films of the 80s), despite the somewhat similar settings, it's hard to imagine two more different films. This colorful sci-fi action spoof is also a marked contrast to Besson's previous films La Femme Nikita and Leon (known as The Professional here in the States), but does share some similarities with them. Much like Nikita and Leon have a distinctive French style to them (even though the latter is set in the U.S.), The Fifth Element takes a lot of stylistic cues from French and Japanese comic books, both of which I'm a fan of, particularly Moebius (who contributed some designs to The Fifth Element) and Shirow Masamune (speaking of which, watch for a volume of the excellent Yakuza (Japanese for gangster) comic Sanctuary in Korben Dallas' apartment).
The film isn't set so much in the future, more of a futurized comic book version of the world that Nikita and Leon are set in. I always find futuristic worlds that are still grappling with contemporary problems more interesting, maybe that's part of why I've never found the utopian world of Star Trek very interesting.
From my understanding, Besson wrote an early draft of the story in high school (along with an early draft of the under-appreciated The Big Blue), which I think is cool, since I can relate, because in school, I had (as of yet, unrealized) dreams of being a filmmaker, and I would often draw cartoons or write stories to help relieve the tedium of high school. Of course, most of them were crap, and have no chance in hell of ever being made into a film.
Besson has a wonderful visual style, here, it's very interesting to see him apply that style to a sci-fi world rather than a contemporary world (as in his films from Subway to Leon) or a bleak post-apocalypse world (as in the lesser known than it should be Le Dernier Combat). Of course, credit is also due to production designer Dan Weil and cinematographer Thierry Arbogast (Arbogast's cinematography was one of the few redeeming features of the dismal Wing Commander). Along with John Woo, Luc Besson is my favorite action director (they may have a three-way tie with the Wachowski brothers if they make more films like The Matrix). Eric Serra's excellent musical score is also worth mentioning. I really enjoyed seeing Gary Oldman repeat his villain role from Leon, although in this film, his character is more cartoonish than evil. I also really like a lot of the visual humor Besson included, like the cigarettes that are 3/4ths filter, and the well-edited sequence when the jet is taking of for Flosthon Paradise.
A couple of complaints though, I would've liked to see Jean Reno play Korben Dallas, not that Bruce Willis did a bad job. I wonder if Reno was originally cast for the part, but backed out. Reno is one of my favorite actors, I could really imagine him in the role. Another thing, I've never found Milla Jovovich's fight scene very believable, maybe I'm just spoiled from having seen so many kung fu movies, particularly the newer ones, like with Jet Li. There are also a few plot holes and lapses in logic, but I choose not to worry about them too much, this isn't a film to take seriously or over-analyze. I say if you can't enjoy the occasional silly action flick (like this one, which succeeds admirably on that level), you're taking life too seriously.