David Hunter
The Fifth Element
Director: Luc Besson
Writer: Luc Besson
Released: May 9th, 1997 in United States
Box Office Gross: Made $63.8 Million Domestic and $200.1 Million Foreign.
Credit to IMDB.com
Plot Synopsis: In the 23rd Century, the universe is threatened by a new evil. The only protection comes in the form of the Fifth Element, coming to Earth every 5,000 years with four stones representing Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. A team of scientists repair the shot down remains when the Mangalores shoot down the Mondoshawan spacecraft. Subsequently, Leeloo, meets Korben Dallas, a taxi driver and former commando whereupon they meet up with Father Vito Cornelius to save the day despite the efforts of one Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg and his crew.
The Cast: The cast is really well rounded with Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, and Ian Holm leading the way as Korben, Zorg, and Cornelius. The rest of the casting is equally memorable thanks to Chris Tucker’s infamous role as Ruby Rod and Milla Jovovich’s memorable performance (and outfit) as Leeloo. Even Tiny Lister, as President Lindberg, and Brion James, as General Munro, serve their roles well and make small screentime characters into memorable ones.
Leeloo Dallas Multipass!
Credit to ken-jennings.com
What Worked: The story is an absolutely fun romp and made me a bonafied fan of Luc Besson in general; as he had also worked on La Femme Nikita and Leon: The Professional earlier and Danny the Dog/Unleashed later. The screenplay is littered with genuinely funny moments, Chris Tucker seems to be having a blast just being an over the top radio host, and the chemistry even in brief scenes between most of the major cast really helps add to the feel these characters are all part of the same universe.
The action is great and the editing job by Sylvie Landra keeps the flow and pace fairly consistently although the film can drag during the Cornelius/Zorg scene. Eric Serra hits a homerun with his musical score incorporating lots of memorable cues and motifs (specifically the taxi chase scene and the aforementioned meeting scene). The sets are fantastic and all look distinctly different from one another so the movie never feels drab or stuck and confined to an area, especially key for a plot that demands the movie take place all over the universe. The development of Leeloo’s character in particular hits a nice balance of feeling abbreviated without feeling like it was done so hastily as to be unbelievable. This helps in setting up the later fight scene involving Leeloo without feeling forced. The standout moment of the film is undoubtedly the performance of the Diva on stage with the vocals dubbed by Inva Mula.
What Didn’t Work: The performance by Charlie Creed-Miles as David, the assistant to Vito Cornelius is pretty underwhelming especially in light of how well everybody else comes off throughout the film. The plot has several elements, no pun intended, that seem to go unexplained or are thrown in with very little explanation. The big honking evil is set up as being a serious threat but we only have Gary Oldman’s, great as it is, performance to step in as the face of the threat in comparison to seeing and knowing that Leeloo represents the literal saving grace for humanity. I liked Chris Tucker’s performance but if you didn’t like him in Rush Hour, you probably will not be a fan of him here either as he tends to dominate the screen in the latter half of the film and can be overly hammy with the material.
Fun Facts: Luc Besson & Milla Jovavich co-created the alien language spoken by Leeloo to the point they’d converse through it on the set. At the time of production, the film was the most expensive one made outside of Hollywood. Prince and Lenny Kravitz both proved as inspirations behind the character of Ruby Rod.
Final Grade: A solid 7/10. Some of the plot lacked necessary details that could have filled in the backstory but the performances, directing, music, and pacing are really great and help transition this film from what could have been a mediocre, underwhelming Sci-Fi flick into something that is seen as a really good genre movie.
Credit to movpins.com for feature image
