Amusing sci-fi/action/fantasy blockbuster fun-fare!

Rating: 9/10 (16 September 2003)

Written, both screenplay and original literary work, and directed solely by Luc Besson, this movie (to me) is the epitome of his artistic genius.
The storyline/plot being one of the most creative pieces of work in the sci-fi genre, is as follows:
There have been many battles between those Beings who first populated our planet and their ancient enemy, the Dark Lord. Throughout the centuries, every 1000 years, the Fifth Element is reborn (Much like the Living Buddah of the religious system known as Buddaism) in time to go up against the Dark Lord and his minions, the Mangalore. Only every thousand years, can he attack the planet Earth, in his attempt to conquer the universe.
Along with the dynamics of the storyline, there are some twists which have to be figured out, which makes the movie even more interesting and enjoyable in this almost Egyptian-styled science fiction action/comedy.
The effects are good, though some of them are a bit hokey, such as the guy's "mirror hat" in the first scene with Bruce Willis's character. On the whole, Joe and Yvonne Hobbs (wardrobe master/mistress) should be shot for the costumes they came up with in this movie. They are completely deplorable. There is NO sense of style, nothing even remotely believable was used, and the war gear belonging to the Mangalore warriors was flimsy as all h*ll and appeared to have come from a child's toy packet available at your local flea market for $4.99 + tax.
Other than the costuming/wardrobing; however, this movie is one of the best in its class. The lines were well-delivered, the storyline flows nicely, with little or no stops, and the action and creatively crafted technological advances are quite thought-provoking, as well as highly entertaining.
The stars of this movie are Bruce Willis as Major Korben Dallas, Gary Oldman as Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg, Ian Holm as Priest Vito Cornelius, Milla Jovovich as Leeloo, Chris Tucker as DJ Ruby Rhod, the most colorful and inventive character of the movie. Without ruby Rhod, there would BE no "Fifth Element," the movie. His character is the most entertaining, brilliant and totally hilarious of the entire list of personalities in this production.
Bruce Willis just shines as Korben Dallas. His character is very well developed, well portrayed and carries that classic Bruce Willis style we've come to love. His character is smiling, sweet, caring and sensitive, yet tough and rough and ready for action at any moment. Brilliant portrayal by Willis.
Gary Oldman; however, stank UP the place. Sorry, but his performance as Zorg was about as believable as Miss Piggy as a lead newscaster on CNN. "He's about dumb," my cousin-in-law. "Squiggy could've done a better job."
Ian Holm is convincing and genuine in his portrayal as Priest Vito Cornelius, the priest who was trained for his whole life, for the moment when the Fifth Element would walk through his door. But what else would you expect from Ian Holm?
Even Vladimir McCrary shines in his brief but poignant role as the "human" Aknot, the Mangalore leader.
The wonders of fantasy instilled by Besson are genius: the flying Far Eastern restaurant, the ancient race of bardic Divas personified here by Diva Plavalaguna (portrayed convincingly and with sheer talent, style and grace by Besson's lover Maïwenn Le Besco) and so many other fantastical treats to grace the visual need for "Eye Candy."
This movie gives you depth, fantasy, and science fiction at its best; love and action, action, action.
Enters: Ruby Rhod, in a live broadcast throughout the universe. He's an overdressed, flamboyant bi-sexual drag queen with a wonderfully phallic hairstyle. His wonderful sense of humor and the sexuality of the character he portrays comes through loud and clear in what is possibly the best acting of Chris Tucker's career. And his screams of fright will send you into spasmodic fits of laughter.
The starship jockeys smoke ganja as they change the plutonium cores of the ships; torching the fuzzy, somewhat (Star Trek's) tribble-esquire space parasites from the ships' underbellies; and rocking to a nice soft island beat. A nice addition which occurs just before the first explosion of the movie, taking you fully by surprise.
This movie has a very good feeling about it, even though it was written by Besson when he was quite young. I've understood he was a teenager when he first wrote this story, but it got revamped when he directed it as an adult.
If you liked "Stargate," the "Lethal Weapon" (for the action/comedy combination) series of movies, or "Total Recall," you will like the "Fifth Element."
I absolutely loved this movie. The fight scene during the Diva's performance personifies Besson's genius. The choreography and execution of these two combined scenes is simply magnificent. In watching the movie again, for this review, I will say that this scene is moving in some way I can't explain. It's in a good way, but I can't explain how or why.
That scene is the climax of the movie, and in my opinion, it totally redeems anything else you don't like such as the wardrobe of the characters. After this scene, the movie rock and rolls to a very satisfying end.
As an afternote, I would like to add that I highly recommend the High Definition digitally remastered Ultimate Edition which contains over 120 minutes of documentaries, featurettes, plus a feature-length trivia fact track, and more. It's well worth the money and the bother of replacing your old copy.
It gets a 9.1/10 from...
the Fiend :.