By Phil Curtolo
Bruce Willis is a type-casted actor. In Die Hard, he played John McClaine, a rough and tough Chicago cop who gets caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Again, in Pulp Fiction, as Butch Coolidge, an over-the-hill boxer, he steps on the wrong guys toes. In Luc Besson's The Fifth Element, Willis plays Korben Dallas, a New York cabby who takes in the wrong passenger at the worst possible time.
A stylish science fiction epic, The Fifth Element's complex plot begins right away, in the deserts of Egypt (think Stargate) in 1914. An enormous spacecraft lands above a pyramid where the "5 Elements" are stored and takes them away, vowing to return them when the evil comes back.
Cut to present day, which is our future. The year is 2023, and New York is the city. The only basic differences between Besson's futuristic depiction and the real life New York is that the smog is thicker, the buildings are higher, and the traffic floats!
Anyway, the "evil" comes back as a ball of fire to wreak havoc on the fair citizens of the earth, so back come the tortoise-like aliens to return the "5 Elements" to Earth, in order to defend themselves against the "evil." In the process, however, the ship is intercepted by 2 fighter pods and is destroyed before landing. When officials arrive at the site, all that remains is a hand. What can you do with a hand? Hey, its the 21st Century here-DNA reconstruction! This hand turns out to belong to a beautiful, but mysterious woman named Leeloo (Milla Jovovich, Dazed and Confused). She escapes and, attempting to escape the police by swan diving off of an enormous skyscraper and crashing through the roof of Korben's floating cab.
It's love at first site, as Korben and Leeloo elude the lazy-as-always cops. When Leeloo begins mumbling about a Cornelius (Ian Holm, Night Falls on Manhattan), Korben searches the "Yellow Pages" and delivers her to the door of the good reverend, the only man who knows of her background and duties. Now, Korben, Leeloo, and Cornelius must journey to a foreign planet to board a cruise ship (special effects were spectacular here) to find the remaining four elements. It is here, where they discover that they have been followed by the evil Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg (Gary Oldman, Murder in the First). He, too, wants possession of the elements, as do a group of pig-like warriors (think the Gamorreans in Return of the Jedi).
In a spectacular ending, with time running out, Leeloo is faced with a problem-why should she save a people who live to destroy each other? The question is a good one, and one that could be pondered. But enough of that. When Korben points out his love for her, Leeloo is inclined to become the "5th element" and save the world from total destruction.
The Fifth Element features good performances by Willis and Holm, an excellent portrayal of a comedic villain (who reminded me a lot of Jack Nicholson's The Joker in Batman) by one of the masters of villainy, Oldman, and a heartfelt offering by relative newcomer Jovovich. The supporting cast, which includes Brion James ( Tango & Cash), Tim "Tiny" Lester (No Holds Barred), Luke Perry (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and Chris Tucker (Friday), added a comedic effect to the film.
Although Besson's The Fifth Element can be criticized for the outlandish use of cliches, it is a solid motion picture with a definite point. Some other directors (like Anaconda's Luis Llosa) should take a lesson from this guy-using ideas from epic motion pictures the right way. Ideas from Star Wars and Stargate were utilized for the improvement of this film. Sci-fi fan or not, any movie-lover should see this wonderfully stylish motion picture. Grade: A-, ****1/2 out of *****
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