LogFAQs > #913066244

"Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Bruce Willis. Long ago, the world lived in harmony. But everything changed when product placement attacked. Only the Supreme Being, master of all five elements, could save us. But when the world needed the Supreme Being most, he vanished into an ancient Egyptian tomb with spaceships and aliens and robots and shit. A random taxi driver found the new Supreme Being, an orange haired lady that got naked a lot. She still has a lot to learn, including English. But I believe Leeloo can save the world.

Traviss Opinion: Travis saw the guy in the Jedi robe at the beginning and yelled Star Wars! Then he decided to chase Cersei around the house and play with cars. He also stopped and danced when Bruce Williss alarm clock went off. " ~Stifled

"This is gonna sound weird, but The Fifth Element feels like a sci-fi parody movie that is played completely straight. Like, there are just so many clichs and corny sci-fi tropes that are executed in a comedic fashionyet at the same time, a good portion of the film feels like a standard movie that has a heart to it. Really, its only towards the back half of the film, on the hotel ship, where things start to get a little goofybut in a good way. Casting is solid: Bruce Willis plays a great everyman, Gary Oldmans villain is so weird and off-putting in all ways that he just works, and Milla Jovovich is a perfect alien because she cannot act like a human to save her life. Hell, I even enjoyed Chris Tuckers whiny histrionics, because he works well as the kind of guy you want to see smacked around by the hero.

The one thing Im gonna consider a flaw, however, is how the movie unravels a little as it gets towards the end. Leeloo is supposed to be this perfect beingfine. Corbin thinks shes hotwhatever floats your boat. But the bond they develop is so weird that it doesnt warrant the world-saving expression of love we get in the finale. Nor do I enjoy the scene of Leeloo, riddled with bullets, still finding the time to scan through an archive of human history of War, as though the movie has ANY sort of message about the horrors of war up until that point. Maybe they shouldnt have thrown in so many action scenes, including Leeloo kicking the ass of a roomful of aliens. But thats a minor nitpick and it doesnt take away from an awesome first 90% of the film with both great comedy and great action rolled up into one complete package." ~Inviso

"First of all, this is Luc Besson at his Luc Besson-iest, and I can't fault anyone for not digging his particular brand of lunacy as much as I do. There are a lot of movies that do similar things to The Fifth Element that I can't stand because it feels like they're trying too hard, but possibly because Besson never seems to take his own material that seriously, the silliness works here and makes the events of the movie feel even more alien. Hell, I even enjoy Chris Tucker's shrieking Ruby Rhod, even if it could be argued the character's portrayal is maybe a bit... (homophobic? transphobic? unclear) by today's standards. It works well along with the style of the film, much like Gary Oldman's unhinged villain acting that I love so much.

The biggest reservation I have with Le Cinquime lment is the way Milla Jovovich's character is treated more by Besson's camera (and the costume designer) than by the rest of the characters in the movie. She gives a cute performance, and the fish-out-of-water nature of her story does bring some laughs to the movie but WOW is it impossible to ignore how needlessly sexualized she is. I'm often able to overlook faults like this if the movie surrounding it is good enough, but this movie does NOT let up on poor Leeloo. Still, I'm more or less with Roger Ebert, in that this is one of the great goofy movies. Also, that opera scene is THE BOMB. I adore that ridiculous, unsingable aria." ~KBM
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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful