Directed by Luc Besson, The Fifth Element is an original, highly visual and brilliant sci-fi action adventure. The basic premise of the story is that every five thousand years evil jumps into our reality and tries to kick our ass. Only a mystical fifth element can save us.
After an interesting opening which shows the aliens making sure the fifth element is kept secret, we are moved forward to the future. The aliens are delivering the fifth element to earth so that the sacred priests can prepare for the evil attack. The spaceship which is carrying the fifth element is shot down and the remains are discovered by the military. They rebuild the fifth element which appears as Milla Jovovich.
She escapes from the military and ends up crashing into Korben Dallas’ (played by Bruce Willis) cab (literally). He takes her to Cornelius (played by Ian Holm) who realises she is the fifth element and teaches her things eg. English and we learn that her name is Leeloo. What follows is an action packed ride with stunning effects. The race is on to find four stones which represent each element. Also after these stones is Gary Oldman who plays Zorg. He has enlisted the help of the mangalores (weird ugly alien creatures). He wants the stones for his own means, there is one funny moment when he laughs hysterically thinking he has the stones, then his laugh turns to tears as he realizes he’s been tricked (Trust me it’s funny on screen)
There is however one drawback to this fine film. It is what I call the comedy element. Chris Tucker (allegedly an American comic) plays a futuristic disc jockey. Unfortunately he is so annoying. He speaks with this high pitch irritating voice. To make things worse he becomes Korbans partner later on the film. All he does is shout out ’’OhMyGod!’’ over and over again whenever Korban is about to get shot or there is a nearby explosion. I just about put up with it, but it is very funny.
Apart from that the film is an excellent film which is surprisingly a European release, not from Hollywood. Great sets, great effects, great cast (Milla goes topless in a PG!). An original film (for a change) which is well worth seeing and I highly recommend it.