Luc Besson's very entertaining mixtures of genres

Rating: 8/10 (26 December 2014)

Bruce Willis saves the world, Gary Oldman plays the villain and Milla Jovovich is meant to shine as the Fifth Element. Well, there's no denying that some clichés have to be dealt with at first glance. But director Luc Besson certainly succeeds in creating a both strange and refreshing concoction that has a solid share of many different genres: first of all, this movie represents a sci-fi-fantasy that spares its viewers irritating facts about what we need to understand about the future. Compare that to the 2014 sci-fi-milestone "Interstellar", which surely has its advantages over this flick but is not anywhere as entertaining. The plot line has elements of both adventure and crime in it: Pure evil in the form of an approaching planet is threatening the very existence of good ol' Earth. Violence begets only violence and therefore the planet continues to grow excessively when it is bombed or shot at with whatever weapon Earth can muster up in its desperate efforts. The only possible remedy lies in the Fifth Element which needs to be combined with the four well-known elements water, air, earth and fire to defy the evil forces. Milla Jovovich gives an amazing performance as the perfect being, the Fifth Element. Of course, the stupid humans don't get her importance and so she is chased by the police and rescued by.. Bruce Willis who was able to squeeze in another world-saving job between the Die Hard-franchise and "Armageddon". But you can't help enjoying Willis' unique talent for stunning action sequences (as an air cab driver in the future he can expand into another dimension) peppered by blunt remarks and disrespect for all authorities. His worthy antagonist is mimed by Gary Oldman with a forbidden haircut and a thoroughly self-ironic performance. "The Fifth Element's strength is that it does not relies too heavily on its rather flimsy story but trusts in its creative potential to appeal to the senses: The audience may indulge the colorful bizarre costumes tailored by star designer Jean-Paul Gaultier and the futuristic cityscape. Jovovich with her fiery-red hair and immaculate body is eye-candy in its purest form. The stunning opera performance on the spaceship Phloston Island serves as an equivalent on an acoustic level. But more than any other genre, this movie lives up to its comedic potential: by telling a serious story about the impending end of the world in a decidedly unserious way, Luc Besson has created an extremely funny mélange that hardly misses a punchline. At times, he may have overdone it if you take Chris Tucker's completely unnerving portrayal of a self-important MC. At other times, comedy oddly mixes with horror such as in a memorable scene when the villain Zorg phones with absolute Evil and he starts to sweat in such a way that his hair dye is streaming down his forehead. All in all, this flick plays out his creative potential nicely and it represents a very refreshing genre mix in an age where Hollywood bosses rather go for conformity.