the perfect element for a perfect movie

Rating: 8/10 (15 December 2002)

It's probably Luc Besson's best movie (with "le grand bleu"). In his movie, he takes back a trendy subject which is to save the world. On this subject that many directors would have surely taken seriously as it was the case with "Independance day", Besson introduces a lot of humor into his film. This humor is unexpected, involuntary and the movie's got funny scenes that are most of the time based on the stroke (like the moment when Bruce Willis is taking Milla Jovovich (the fifth and perfect element) to the priest( Ian Holm) and the last one thought that the fifth element had vanished forever. So you can imagine his reaction. Not only are some scenes funny but the dialogs are often zany. These comical elements enable to overlook the dramatic side of the situation. On another hand, Besson controls perfectly his movie: almost all the scenes (especially the action scenes) are meticulously well-ordered at the level of the making, the light, the costumes etc... So the movie doesn't neglect any point. Moreover, Besson's making is inventive, clever ( besides the movie won an Oscar in France in 1998 for the best director). The screenplay is remarkably well put together and is boosting the spectator's attention by the apparition of new facts in common with the plot, even if it's a little manichean. The film is a pleasant surprise thanks to its actors too. Bruce Willis is simple, just, he doesn't ham it up and doesn't play the he-man. Gary Oldman is a wicked who never falls into the caricature; he's even fanciful and ridiculous. Let's add that the other actors are all excellent. At last , a sustained rythm not spoiled by the special effects, some extraordinaries sceneries; it seems that everything in this movie (which looks like a comic strip), was designed to charm the spectator. So it's not surprising that it was enormously successful in France.
A remark: here, the president's got a neutral role unlike "Independance day" in which the president pilots a fighter plane.