SNMR 2.3: "The Fifth Element"

Tonight's SNMR feature is "The Fifth Element" (1997, PG-13, 127 minutes), starring Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, Chris Tucker, Milla Jovovich, Luke Perry and Brion James. The film was directed by Luc Besson.

This is one of those films that I've always told myself I wanted to see when it came out in the theater and told myself the same thing time and again seeing it at the store. So I'm watching this movie for the first time tonight.

From the DVD's dust case:

New York cab driver Korben Dallas didn't mean to be a hero, but he just picked up the kind of fare that only comes along every five thousand years: a perfect beauty, a perfect being, a perfect weapon. Now together, they must save the world. Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman and Milla Jovovich star in director Luc Besson's outrageous sci-fi adventure, an extravagantly styled tale of good against evil set in an unbelievable twenty-third century world.

From Martin & Porter's DVD and Video Guide 2006, p. 382:

This hyperkinetic sci-fi thriller doesn't score for logic or coherence, but it sure knows how to dazzle and delight. Twenty-third century cabbie Bruce Willis gets involved with a gorgeous extraterrestrial who holds the key to saving the universe. The two dodge nasty aliens, befriend a befuddled priest and a manic media talk show host, all while staying one step ahead of the dangerously insane villain. You may hate yourself in the morning, but you'll have to admit this is a lot of fun.

Action? Definitely. Weirdness? Absolutely. Did the film make sense? Sort of. Two hours should have been enough time to sort everything out but the story took too long to get up to speed. The script I thought was weaker than it should have been because there is simply too much going on all at once. The premise of the story was good but could have been executed much more efficiently. The characters were raw and could have been developed more, especially Leeloo, played by Milla Jovovich, who is supposed to be the perfect being and savior of the universe. The special effects were decent but not great. I'll give this film two and a half out of five stars.