2 of 10
Cinematography by Thierry Arbogast
Bruce Willis
Gary Oldman
Ian Holm
Milla Jovovich
Chris Tucker
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| The Fifth Element 2 of 10 |
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| Directed by Luc Besson Cinematography by Thierry Arbogast Bruce Willis Gary Oldman Ian Holm Milla Jovovich Chris Tucker |
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| Several years ago, I saw Luc Besson's Leon for the first time. It is the story of a kind-hearted hit man who befriends an orphaned girl. I was blown away; it is a brilliant film, and one of the best that I have seen. Besson apparently wrote the script, cast the movie, and directed it while trying to acquire the funding needed for the film closest to his heart: The Fifth Element. Needless to say, I was very excited about watching it. If he was so brilliant with Leon, what would he be able to do with his dream project? The simple answer is: nothing. This is a horrible film on many, many levels. It has been praised by many for its visuals, but it looked like a commercial: lots of neon lights, fast movements and bright colors, mostly intended for those with no attention spans. Kind of like a Blade Runner for the 90's crowd. The acting was very poor, with the exception of Ian Holm (who can't act badly if he tries) and Bruce Willis. And the story had serious, serious problems. The first one is the fact that it seems unable to tell if its a spoof or a serious film. This confusion leads to many scenes that have high comedic value, but make you feel that they were probably not intended to cause laughter. Then, there is the problem of the villain. There isn't one. Oldman plays an ugly, stupid alien who commands a crowd of ugly, stupid aliens, although the latter come from a totally different race. Then, moments before the end of the film, another incredibly powerful and totally unexplained villain is produced, (it has no corporeal being, which is always a tricky thing visually), and immediately destroyed. This all serves to generate...no interest. By this time, the audience is pretty much lost, and probably looking for ways to forget that Chris Tucker's character even exists. All in all, it was a huge disappointment. The only thing that gets this film any kind of rating at all is Willis, who turns in a fine, serious performance. Unfortunately, it seems totally out of place in this complete mishmash. Sad. | ||||||