Not great, but not awful

Rating: Null/10 (4 January 2000)

When I first saw The Fifth Element, I was confused within the first thirty minutes. Some of these things were explained later in the movie, but I watched it a second time just to make sure I didn't miss something. The second time around, it wasn't as confusing because I knew what to expect, but it wasn't much more enjoyable.
It seemed like every time Luc Besson tried to insert a little gag or pun, instead of adding comedy relief it just opened new holes in the story that were never explained. I'd find myself saying "Wait, what happened to..." or "Where did that come from?" I guess, since this is sci-fi, we're just supposed to laugh and fill in the gaps ourselves, but I found it rather annoying. Speaking of annoying, I don't even need to elaborate on the character of Ruby Rhod, who--by the way--simply walks out of the pyramid at the end of the movie, presumably to a slow, fiery death (there I go filling in the gaps on my own).
I'm not a big fan of science fiction anyway, but there are some sci-fi's that I like. The Fifth Element, however, does not make my list.