The Fifth Element (1997)

 

Genre: Sci-fi/Action

Time: 1h 53mins

Director: Luc Besson

Quick Summary: In the colourful future, a cab driver unwittingly becomes the central figure in the search for a legendary cosmic weapon to keep Evil and Mr Zorg at bay

I instantly fell in love with this film, it's so full of charm and wonderfully extra.

The plot is not particularly original, man has to save the world before humanity is wiped out, but there is so much that goes into this that honestly I didn't care. Since it is presented so amazingly, you forget about how simple the plot is. 

The world-building in this is phenomenal, the amount of detail that went into just costumes was crazy. Each costume was personally made and each one was unique to the person. The sets were incredibly futuristic without seeming ridiculous, most of them being fully practical with digital enchantments and even if they are dated a bit now, because of how grand this film is it's easy to forgive. I love how creative and imaginative this is. 

Bruce Willis for a whole, I loved his role. Naturally charming, and pulls off a macho, full of one-liners, romantic wonderfully. There were times when I felt his jokes didn't fully land or he came across slightly creepy though, but honestly, it didn't affect his performance for me. Milla Jovovich is stunning, and being thrown a rather odd character she runs with it and pulls off an amazing performance. Chris Tucker is also thrown a rather odd character but this time he is the comedic relief of this. I wasn't particularly a big fan of the character and how over the top he was, but he eventually grew on me and i ended up enjoying his character by the end. 

Script-wise, I found it really interesting. Everything the viewer needs to know is explained throughout the film when it needs to be, nothing is thrown at us all at once so we're completely lost on a rush delivery but it also isn't drawn out so we get bored. It finds a wonderful balance and doesn't overcomplicate things. As well, it chooses to be very tongue-in-cheek with its humour, which I found incredibly funny. This is paired incredibly well with the action which is super engaging. It knows when to tone up the big fights and have the viewer on the edge of their seat.

I found the score to be very hit-or-miss, bouncing between techno and almost jazz-like. In some parts I really liked it, but then in others not so much. 

This is one of a kind in my eyes. It has its own unique charm that I couldn't help but love. If you haven't seen this, go watch it now.

9/10

"Multipass"

"Police: Are you classified as human?

Korben Dallas: Negative, I am a meat popsicle."

"Leeloo: Everything you create, you use to destroy.

Korben Dallas: Yeah, we call it human nature."