{"id":852,"date":"2023-04-03T09:02:37","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T09:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nancyepton.co.uk\/?p=852"},"modified":"2024-01-04T13:51:15","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T13:51:15","slug":"re-watch-the-fifth-element","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nancyepton.co.uk\/?p=852","title":{"rendered":"Re-Watch: The Fifth Element"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At this point, most of my favourite films are pretty serious ones. Usually rather depressing, usually rather dark (often literally and metaphorically). A fair amount of those films fall into the science fiction genre. But The Fifth Element<\/em>? It\u2019s pretty darn goofy, and it\u2019s not afraid about that fact. If you forgot what the film\u2019s title was at the start of the movie, then don\u2019t worry, it\u2019s mentioned twice in the opening sequence, and several times after that. Not that there\u2019s anything wrong with that, it\u2019s just a bit expository. And the visual style is whacky as heck, in a good way. It doesn\u2019t hide its Blade Runner<\/em> influences (that cool flying sushi restaurant imitating Blade Runner<\/em>\u2019s noodle bar, the stylised vehicles), and that\u2019s fine. It\u2019s hard not to take some influence from one of the most influential science fiction films of the last several decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s got plenty of whacky quirks of its own. The whole world pops with colour; you won\u2019t find any Blade Runner<\/em> silhouettes here. As Bruce Willis\u2019 world-weary Corbin Dallas meets Leeloo and unwillingly journeys through the utopian Fhloston Paradise to find four sacred stones to save the world, there\u2019s plenty of weird creatures on display. But before I go into that, shout-out to Korben\u2019s mum, who provides oodles of comedic relief despite never being on screen. We only ever hear her disappointed voice reprimanding her son via phone, at one point even insulting the president himself in her fury at not being invited to Fhloston Paradise. Beyond that though, we\u2019ve got Korben\u2019s eccentric white cat, who mostly emotes through cross-eyed stares of intrigue. As with all good actors, doing little does a lot. And then there\u2019s that weird colourful elephant think that Zorg has. I\u2019m not really sure what\u2019s going on with that dude, but he seems fairly docile, so that\u2019s fine. Those nasty aliens, though? Very nasty. Although they do come good in the end, so that\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was also fun just to remember all the lines in the film that became semi-regular quotes among family members. MULTIPASS. KORBENNNNN DALLLAS, etc. Those are just a couple. Spoken only amongst family members, of course. We\u2019re not that eccentric. Come on now. But the acting\u2019s great too, as long as you\u2019re willing to accept a bit of ham. Or a lot of ham, in places. In the case of Gary Oldman, a fair amount of a lot of ham. This is Gary Oldman we\u2019re talking about though, so naturally he\u2019s great. Particularly his speech about chaos, which reminded me about Mr Smith\u2019s speech about human beings as a virus in\u00a0The Matrix<\/em>. Powerful stuff. Mila Jovovich is on great form as Leeloo too; she doesn\u2019t get given the greatest roles in the\u00a0Resident Evil<\/em>films, but she really shines here, especially in a poignant scene where she learns about the nature of war. Chris Tucker puts in some fine comedic dedication from his opening scene; again, KORBINENNN DALLLAS. Iconic. The YouTube channel WatchMojo incorrectly featured Tucker\u2019s character in their Top 10 Unintentionally Annoying Characters list a while back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I doubt the screenplay writer was going into this thing not expecting Ruby Rod to be somewhat annoying in the film\u2019s wider plot. He is annoying, but in a very much deliberate, bombastic comedic form from his debut appearance. And it\u2019s a great performance of hyperbolic mania. Just be prepared for a lot of noise and you\u2019ll be fine. And Bruce Willis himself, of course. Willis\u2019 dementia diagnosis is a tragedy, but alongside\u00a0Twelve Monkeys<\/em>, this was easily one of his all-time best roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re looking for science-fiction that\u2019s a bit more colourful and optimistic rather than brooding and dark (my usual preference), you won\u2019t find a much better example than this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At this point, most of my favourite films are pretty serious ones. Usually rather depressing, usually rather dark (often literally and metaphorically). A fair amount of those films fall into the science fiction genre. But The Fifth Element? It\u2019s pretty darn goofy, and it\u2019s not afraid about that fact. If you forgot what the film\u2019s title … <\/p>\n

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