Brilliant -and not just for a video game.

Rating: 9/10 (17 February 2001)

"The Fifth Element" is not the first movie made like a video game (to the best of my knowledge, "Tron" is -any suggestions here?). But is is probably the best, together with the "Matrix". Bruce is doing the hero/anti hero stuff he knows so well, although the wit is not there. Gary Oldman is his usual great self (some guys make you want to cry "INJUSTICE" having all the talent in the galaxy), the supporting crew is fine (kudos to Ian Holm and Chris Tucker), the plot is classic sci-fi and Mila Jovovich is the price you have to pay for seeing a movie made by her SO (sorry but I can't stand her neither as a woman nor as a model -let's not talk about acting, OK?).
Action is also wonderful. Fast, rhythmic and rightly balanced. If you haven't seen it already, raise your antennas when the blue diva starts singing "Lucia di Lammermoor" (this is *not* a spoiler!). It is one of the best directed action scenes made in the last 50 years as well as a very good version of the aria. Even Jovovich couldn't make it look bad.

The movie's peak though, is the atmosphere, the ambiance. It is magnificent, it is wonderful, it is a video game brought to life, a Gibson-esque world but with sunlight in it. It is also a triumph of late 20th century kitsch in every aspect of life -you can't hate it 'cause you know it is already here.

See it, and keep it in your shelve for the future. It is a great movie and a great trip. If only their idea of the "fifth element" was Angelina Jolie or Catherine Zeta-Jones (they can't act either but their looks, oh Gods, their looks!). But then again we wouldn't have the Besson/Gaultier duo giving us a glimpse of the future, would we? (Sigh!).