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Fifth Element, The
Luc Besson's big budget sci-fi extravaganza set in the 24th century. Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm and Chris Tucker star
Famously The Fifth Element is based on a novel that director Luc Besson wrote when he was 16. It shows. This is an incredibly juvenile film. There's a masturbatory fantasy involving a supermodel landing in the lap of a tough guy hero, nerdy space creatures, invented languages and a complete disregard for logic and reality. Fortunately, the parallels end there. Unlike most teenage outpourings, this gloriously camp film never takes itself too seriously - and it's very entertaining. The story is ridiculous. It opens looking like Raiders Of The Lost Ark where an archaeologist is uncovering an incredible secret. Just as he's worked out that there's going to be a terrible dark force attacking the Earth in 300 years, huge aliens arrive, he faints and the film fast forwards to the 24th century. There, an incompetent president is desperately trying to cope with the now impending crisis: a huge malevolent planet is attacking the world. "All we know is it just keeps getting bigger," is the scientific opinion. Kindly aliens try to return the five elements that will save everyone. Unfortunately, a greedy evil Texan is doing his best to mess things up. Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg (Oldman, shouting, cackling and preening with great panache) has sent some alien mercenaries to pick up the elements so he can sell them. The ship carrying the fifth element is blown up. Luckily Earth scientists are able to recreate it from a single cell. It turns out to be a supreme being Leeloo (Milla Jovovich). However, Leeloo doesn't want to hang around with the boffins and so runs out of the lab, jumps off a skyscraper and crashes into the passing taxi of the military-trained Korben Dallas (Willis). The scene is set for a race against time to retrieve the other four elements and for Dallas to fulfil the mission given to him by his old army boss: "save the world". It's convoluted, confusing and ultimately absurd. However, this doesn't matter. The story is just the vehicle for a script stuffed with one-liners and bravura direction that clatters along against a dazzling background. The $93 million budget went to good use on some great flying cars, cool looking aliens and an explosion-filled finale. The futuristic world, based on the drawings of cult French sci-fi comic heroes Morbius and Jean-Claude Mezi??res, looks nothing short of superb. Even the costumes are dazzling - designed by the gloriously over-the-top Jean-Paul Gaultier. This is also a genuinely funny film. There are numerous amusing visual jokes (cigarettes where the filter is longer than the cylinder of tobacco, space traffic-lights), Bruce Willis deadpans as well as ever ("I only speak two languages. English and bad English") and Chris Tucker's gay-Prince/Michael Jackson hybrid DJ Ruby Rhod has to be seen to be believed. In fact, nearly all the performances are captivating. Milla Jovovich shows she's more than a pretty face with an especially revealing Gaultier outfit - and demonstrates real comic talent with her permanently confused alien babbling. Ian Holm is likeable as the hapless priest Vito, and, of course, Gary Oldman steals every scene he's in. Verdict Preposterous but fun, The Fifth Element is a fine shamelessly juvenile blockbuster worth watching for the visual effects alone. Not to mention Gary Oldman in a rubber suit. |
