The Fifth Element (1997) Columbia/Sci-Fi-Action-Adventure RT: 127 minutes Rated PG-13 (intense sci-fi violence, some sexuality, brief nudity, language) Director: Luc Besson Screenplay: Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen Music: Eric Serra Cinematography: Thierry Arbogast Release date: May 7, 1997 (US) Cast: Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Milla Jovovich, Ian Holm, Chris Tucker, Luke Perry, Charlie Creed-Miles, Lee Evans, Brion James, Tricky, Tommy “Tiny” Lister Jr., John Neville, John Bluthal, Mathieu Kassovitz, Christopher Fairbank, Kim Chan, Richard Leaf, Julie T. Wallace, Al Matthews, Maiwenn Le Besco, John Bennett, Said Talidi. Box Office: $63.5M (US)/$263.9M (World)
Rating: *** ½
I miss a great many things about “the old days” (which now include the 90s) especially where movies are concerned. I miss the days when every future-set movie didn’t depict a bleak, dystopian future ruled by a totalitarian government that sanctions deadly games. Take The Fifth Element, a sci-fi actioner written and directed by Luc Besson (Leon the Professional). It’s not just a movie; it’s a wild ride in which an ordinary guy is called upon to help save the world from total annihilation. It depicts 23rd century New York as a thriving, bustling city with flying cars, floating restaurants that come to your window and tall buildings that aren’t burnt-out shells. It’s not a perfect world, but at least people aren’t killing each other for sport.
The narrative is all over the place, but The Fifth Element is convoluted in a good way, sort of like Big Trouble in Little China. It’s one of those movies, love it or hate it, you’re hard-pressed to explain to somebody who hasn’t seen it. I’ll do my best.
It opens in Egypt circa 1914 with an archeologist (Bluthal, Dark City) attempting to translate hieroglyphics on the wall of an ancient temple. Suddenly, a large spacecraft lands and giant alien robots step out. They’ve come to collect the four sacred stones hidden in the temple and guarded by a secret order of priests. Each one represents one of the four elements- earth, wind, fire and water- and when used in conjunction with a “fifth element”, they create a light capable of defeating a great evil that appears every 5000 years. With WWI approaching, they’re no longer safe on our planet. The aliens promise to return to Earth with the stones when the great evil returns in about 300 years.
Cut to 2263. The great evil, a giant black fiery sphere, is hurtling towards Earth. It’s impervious to every weapon known to mankind including nuclear ones. There’s only one way to stop it. The priest currently charged with protecting the secret, Father Cornelius (Holm, the LOTR trilogy), tells the President (Lister, Jackie Brown) that the aliens are on their way with the stones and fifth element. Unfortunately, their ship is ambushed by intergalactic creeps hired by megalomaniacal industrialist Zorg (Oldman, Leon the Professional) to steal the stones. Fortunately, they’re not on the ship. What is on the ship is the fifth element which takes on the form of a young woman, Leeloo (Jovovich, Resident Evil), who speaks in an unknown language and possess the agility of a Romanian gymnast.
She escapes from the lab (by jumping from a high ledge) and lands in a taxi cab driven by Korben Dallas (Willis, Die Hard) who just happens to be an ex-Special Forces major. He helps her evade police (which costs him his job) and takes her to Cornelius who’s relieved to see that she’s safe. Leeloo tells him that the stones are in the possession of an alien opera singer who’s scheduled to give a concert on a luxury intergalactic cruise. Dallas’ former superior officer (James, Blade Runner) wants him to retrieve the stones so he arranges for Dallas to win a contest that will put him and Leeloo on that cruise. Zorg, of course, sends his guys to get them too.
As if there wasn’t already enough craziness in The Fifth Element, I haven’t yet mentioned Chris Tucker’s (the Rush Hour movies) character. Boy, is he ever a character! He plays a talk-show host named Ruby Rhod. Let’s put it this way. If you took DNA from RuPaul, Dennis Rodman and Prince, added cocaine and mixed it, Ruby Rhod would be the result. Whenever he’s on-screen, it’s like the movie is on speed. Some find this character grating; I think it’s a great addition to an already cool as s*** flick.
The Fifth Element is easily the zaniest summer blockbuster flick since Big Trouble in Little China. It’s what you call pop sci-fi. It doesn’t even attempt to be cerebral; at least not until near the end when Leeloo expresses doubts about humanity being worth saving after viewing images of wars throughout history on a computer. Dallas, of course, assures her that it is. Why? Easy. It starts with L and rhymes with dove. Aside from that (and it isn’t even all that deep actually), Besson keeps it light and fun. The Fifth Element has a decent amount of humor and some awesome action scenes. The shoot-out on the cruise is reminiscent of Scarface’s finale.
Where The Fifth Element scores highest is art design. WOW! It’s a lot like Blade Runner except it all takes place in broad daylight as opposed to darkness. The sight of Dallas’ taxi driving through the congested air traffic of futuristic NYC is gorgeous. This is how an optimist views the future. Besson took inspiration for the incredible production design from the comics of fellow Frenchmen Jean Giraud and Jean-Claude Mezieres. He also hired fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier to do the costumes.
The special effects, a combination of practical effects, scale models, CGI and particle systems (for the traffic scenes), are amazing. The opera singer (played by Maiwenn Le Besco) is a blue-skinned alien beauty with tentacles coming out of her head. Voiced by Albanian soprano Inva Mula, she has a beautiful voice. Her song starts out as an aria and blends seamlessly into a Euro-pop style song. The score by Eric Serra, a frequent Besson collaborator, perfectly suits the movie. He utilizes several different musical styles to create a singular effect.
The cast does an incredible job. Willis brings some of his trademark Die Hard snarkiness to his role here. He’s the hero who doesn’t really want to be a hero, but why not since he has nothing better to do. Frequent calls from his nagging mother are a nice add. Jovovich is HOT in this movie. That flaming red hair and perfect body, WHOA and WOWSER! Oldman, bringing a lot of his Stansfield (the villain from Leon) character to the party, hams it up very nicely as Zorg. He doesn’t devour the scenery as thoroughly as Stansfield (he doesn’t scream “EVERYONE!!!”) but still chews it up to great effect. Tucker is the wild card; it’s the only way to describe him. It’s always great to see the late Brion James (he died in ’99) and Lister (who’s better remembered as bad guy Zeus in 1989’s Hulk Hogan-starrer No Holds Barred).
Here’s the long and short of it. The Fifth Element is a lot of fun. It’s more like a ride than a movie, but I already said that. It’s campy, silly and cheerful. It doesn’t leave you feeling depressed or bereft of hope like most movies with futuristic settings these days- e.g. Children of Men, Elysium, The Hunger Games, etc. It has so many different story elements and brings them together nicely even if the movie’s plot is hard to describe. At the very least, it can’t be summed up in a single sentence. Besson is a brilliant filmmaker. He always transcends genre; look no further than La Femme Nikita, Leon the Professional and Lucy. The Fifth Element is one of his best. It has a high repeat watchability quotient. It’s a reminder that movies can still be magic. It’s a virtual feast for the eyes, ears and imagination.
