The Fifth Element Review
by "Nick Schaden" (cpunut AT uslink DOT net)November 9th, 1997
THE FIFTH ELEMENT (1997)
A film review by Nick Schaden
Copyright 1997 Nick Schaden
Making film in the science fiction genre is a risky proposal. Not only must a sci-fi movie hurdle over standard movie obstacles (acting,plot,etc.), it also has to create a believable future that toys with both fantasy and reality. "The Fifth Element" scores big in the latter, creating a movie with dazzling special effects and costumes that would make Ridley Scott proud. Unfortunately, a slightly muddy plot and other annoying quibbles keep this film from achieving true sci-fi greatness.
Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis) is a cabbie/ex-military hero living in 23rd century New York. Naturally, he's the only man that can save the world from total destruction by recovering the "fifth element" (a "perfect" woman) and several other assorted stones. Sound a little fishy? It is. During the first third of "The Fifth Element", little makes completely comprehensible sense, director Luc Besson rather decides to impress the audience with high quality special effects. While the effects and design are likely this movie's strongest point, this reviewer wanted a bit more substance than flair.
Two other elements detract from the quality of this movie. The first - Bruce Willis. While Willis acts adequately, unfortunately he sticks to his rock hard "Die Hard"-like persona (complete with tough attitude and cute one-liners) a bit too much. In addition, this reviewer never cared for Chris Tucker, who plays a rather large role in the final third of this film. His constant barrage antics soon became much more annoying than humorous.
Even with these problems, "The Fifth Element" remains ahead of the sci-fi pack. The special effects, costumes (Gary Oldman's strange outfit comes to mind), and other elements make for a captivating and wonderfully detailed future. In addition, the humor throughout the film was quite entertaining.
In sum, while "The Fifth Element" is centuries away from being the next "Blade Runner", it's an entertaining and solid film that is worth the price of admission.
Nick's Rating: +2 (Recommended)
*** Movies rated from -4 (worst) to +4 (best), 0=average movie ***
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Nick Schaden
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