Startling

Rating: 10/10 (23 June 1999)

I cannot get enough of this film. Luc Besson is a terrific writer/director generally, but this is like nothing he has ever made.
The imagery is stunning in its colour and design; The costumes are mad as only Gaultier can manage; the story is wild and untamed.
Religion, science, war, good, and evil are all represented in this film, and it is done with a superb cast and a fluid script. Naturally, suspense of imagination is necessary, but it's sci-fi!
But this is non-conformist sci-fi. The future is bright and breezy, not dark and gloomy. Radio is alive and well - we're not all living in a hyper-technicised bubble, but roaming free with a loopy DJ in our ears, and whingeing mothers on the phone. It's the same, but it's different.