The Fifth Element (Revisited)

Director Luc Besson's career feels like a blatant retort to the notion that "French movies are boring." Why? Because Besson has spent the majority of his career directing and producing unapologetic action films that either take place in European locales (Taken), feature non-American actors (Jean Reno in Leon: The Professional), or exist to entertain above all else (why else watch Lucy?). But with Besson's space epic Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets about to hit theaters, one Besson film has been on my mind above the others: 1997's The Fifth Element. So today we'll revisit Besson's first gigantic foray into science fiction and see why it's become something of a cult classic.

In the 23rd century, a terrifying black mass has appeared on the edge of the known galaxy. Immune to all conventional weapons, in fact weapons of war only make it stronger, the human race seeks relief and protection from the mystical "Fifth Element" a supreme being capable of repelling the evil force. But when the supreme being's convoy is destroyed, a former soldier turned cabbie and a priest will to have race against time, and the evil entity's allies, to collect the items needed to unleash the Fifth Elements power.

The Reason This Isn't Dubbed A "Must Watch": It Is Straight-Faced Silly...But That's A Good Thing

When your primary antagonists are a gun toting businessman whose shady dealings literally kill people, actual war pigs, and a giant ball of evil incarnate that only gets stronger when you treat it aggressively, you're not aiming for subtely. And yet that slightly tongue-in-cheek, yet totally sincere approach is one of the big reasons this movie is so much fun. Plenty of people have remarked on this, but a lot of modern cinema is afraid of using big emotions and silly concepts without irony. There's frequently nods to the camera or a joke to undercut the moment to let the audience know, yeah we know this is silly.

The Fifth Element goes in the opposite direction. Sure there are jokes, but none of the movie's emotional moments are cheapened. The best example is the frequently sited fight scene between the Fifth Element Leeloo and the Magalores (the war pigs). In this scene, our hero Korben is watching the Diva, a giant blue alien with a tentacled hair style sing opera as her entourage is murdered by Magalores with Leeloo watching in the wings. Mad as hell, Leeloo begins a somewhat comedic martial arts beatdown of the gun-toting aliens....as the song shifts to operatic dance pop with the Diva using dance moves at place in a boy band video with Leeloo and the Diva ending their routines with the same pose. And it works. It's the silliest thing to describe but in the context of the film it's a joy to behold and one of the most memorable film scenes I've ever seen.

Milla Jovovich

Before she was beating zombie ass in the Resident Evil series, Jovocich was a largely unknown actress with a number of small starring roles to her name. This is her breakout and it's easy to see why. The role is an emotional roller coaster, and now that I think about it a huge precursor to River Tam in Firefly and Serenity, often asking Jovovich to be aggressive, heart-breakingly vulnerable, and joyful in single scenes...all while speaking broken English or an entirely made-up language at lighting speed. She is utterly compelling which means that the audience immediately understands why Bruce Willis' Corben Dallas helps, follows, and falls for her seconds after meeting her.

Builds A World With Distinctive Looks and Characters

Like many of the best science fiction movies, The Fifth Element does a great job at showing us the world in the 23rd century without telling us about it. In one shot during Leeloo's escape we can determine that cities are gigantic above the smog clouds skyskraper factories with flying cars. We don't need the entire backstory as to how we got here, or commentary on whether this is a good or bad thing. This is just the reality.

In similar fashion, the film's main characters are all well-defined and reinforced by their wardrobes. The priests, though decidedly modern and unaffiliated wear robes and occasionally head coverings akin to Judaism and Islam. Leeloo wears a lot of white and orange that shows off her physique and makes her stand out (note that Korben also wears orange as well). We even have a black president whose clothing distinguishes him from the military personnel, but doesn't full mimic modern day suits.

However, my favorite mixture of character through design is Ruby Rod. Even fans of this movie hate Ruby, but that's kind of the point. You're not supposed to like Ruby. He's every obnoxious self-centered flamboyant drive time DJ rolled into one and everything from his voice, the performance by Chris Tucker, and his clothes are intentionally garish. He's the antithesis of our mission oriented heroes. You won't like him, but you won't forget him.

Verdict: Simple and Sincere Fun

The Fifth Element is far from a deep movie, but its well realized characters, world, and general sense of fun are palpable. Check this out, especially if you're going to see Valerian this weekend.