Awesome, comical and stunning

Rating: Null/10 (19 September 2002)

The Fifth Element is a great sci-fi film, a blend of wonderful visual effects, great acting and an easy to follow, interesting script. The cast brings life to their characters. Bruce Willis easily fell into his role as Korben Dallas, so well that it did not seem like you were watching Bruce Willis. Milla Jovovich was awesome as the Perfect creature in the universe, Ian Holm was realistic, Chris Tucker was annoying but hilarious (Bzzzzz! is classic to sci-fi fans) and Gary Oldman just totally hysterical as Zorg.
People might think that the characters and the setting is taken straight from comic book pages. In a way it is, but in other ways it resembles our Earth. Like Dune and the old Star Wars Trilogy, it paints for us a surreal picture of civilization (in this case ours in the near future) in a way the new Star Wars films fail to achieve. The costuming, the designs for the hovering cars, the Paradise Planet, the so-called 'celebrities' of the time, and the Diva concert all add to a unique and odd culture that keeps the movie going in the blurry spots on the plot. The aliens are different from your average sci-fi movie aliens, and the techno music score is sweet.
The plot is simple and not too original, but it does keep you going most of the time. Admittedly, the beginning is pretty boring and it might take some effort to keep non-sci-fi fans in their seats. But otherwise, the story is fun and the script is loaded with laughs.
I rate this 9.5 out of 10. Go out and buy on DVD or VHS. This is definitely one of the better examples of sci-fi.