Film

The Fifth Element (1997)

Director: Luc Besson

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

The 23rd century: Earth's being threatened by a fireball - Absolute Evil - and our only hope lies with the Fifth Element, sent by friendly aliens and given human form as the waifish Leeloo (Jovovich), who's rescued from a suspicious militia by Korben Dallas, spacefighter turned Brooklyn air-cabbie (Willis). Until he takes her to the priest Cornelius (Holm), who alone understands the ancient mysteries, Dallas has no idea of his charge's role in the scheme of things - though her exceptional powers and the unwelcome attentions of Zorg (Oldman), a power maniac aligned with Evil, soon convince him she's something special. While there's enjoyment to be had from Willis's amiably tongue-in-cheek performance, Dan Weil's production design, Jean-Paul Gaultier's outlandish costumes and Digital Domain's special effects, Besson's futuristic fable is flawed by a messy narrative which strains to incorporate far too many grotesque and eccentric characters. Leeloo's sorrowing horror at humanity's propensity for violence and war is a bit rich in a movie that delights in, and depends for effect on, firepower, explosions and loudly destructive mayhem.

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