Watch it with your eyes and your heart.

Rating: 10/10 (9 July 2003)

Watching `The Fifth Element' made me fall in love with Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, and color. The cast, costumes, sets, score, effects, and concepts are (eye) candy too beautiful to eat. Some would find such a situation `too sweet,' but I consider it fun, especially because I don't believe that plot was sacrificed for the visual experience. Instead, I maintain that there is a plot, but also posit that looking to `The Fifth Element' for plot is missing the point. The film rejoices in itself. Within the hypercolorful universe of the film, Willis is simultaneously *funny,* sexy, and lethal, and Jovovich is *cute,* sexy, and lethal. Take the film too seriously and you'll miss that they (especially Willis) are not. After my recent umpteenth viewing of the film, I realized that I also love it for its editing and framing, which add to the fun comic book feel already inspired by the color and plot, but which I was only recently able to pin down with words. Watch `The Fifth Element' for plot and you may be disappointed, but watch it with your eyes and your heart, and you will understand why it is great.