The Fifth Element movie review

The Fifth Element, released in 1997 is sci-fi action movie starring Bruce Willis, Mila Jovovich, and Gary Oldman. This is a movie with a long and interesting history, the writer/director Luc Besson, started writing the Fifth Element when he was only 16 years old, and it was released when he was 38, and he first tried to make the movie in the early 1990s, but because of budget and other factors, he wasn't able to do it until nearly ten years later after he had made his first successful movie, thankfully Bruce Willis who had signed on early on as the leading man still agreed to do the film. The Fifth Element starts off with an archaeologist exploring an ancient structure in Egypt where he discovers the story of the 5 stones and the fifth element, but then aliens come and take back the stones for safe keeping, entrusting the key to a priest who will hand down the secret to future generations of priests, then we fast forward hundreds of years to a futuristic earth, where buildings have been built up to escape the smog that choked out the ground level, there are flying cars, and exotic clothes and fashion. There is a mysterious fiery orb slowly approaching the earth, and the aliens returned with the stones just in time to save the earth...but of course things aren't that easy, because Zorg (Gary Oldman) has hired some alien warriors to steal the stones, and then they blow up the alien ship and the aliens all die. But there is just enough DNA left to recreate a survivor, and as they are making "him" in what equates to a 3d Printer, they discover he is actually a she, and she is PERFECT (honestly she really is with her bright orange hair, her memorizing blue eyes, and perfect features...ok, I digress, I admit it Mila Jovovich is one of the most beautiful women alive). Well the orange haired woman feels threatens and escapes and while being pursued by the police jumps off a building and crashes into a cab driven by Corben Dallas (Bruce Willis). The cops then try to capture her from the back of his cab, but she pleads to him "Please Help" with her sad eyes, and he decides, fuck it, and helps her. This starts a chase scene. They finally escape and she tells him she needs to see a priest named Cornelius (Ian Holm). Here we find out that she is the supreme being, the fifth element, and we find out that the stones were not taken by the alien warriors hired by Zorg but in fact entrusted to a Diva, who is performing at an exotic resort cruise ship. A bunch of crazy things happen, everyone wants the stones, the government, the priest, Zorg, the aliens that were hired to steal them. So Corben is recruited by the government, and long story short goes with Leeloo(the Fifth Element, played by Mila Jovovich) to get the stones. Well the way the government gets him there is by rigging a contest where he will be joining an obnoxious radio host named Rubi Rhod (Chris Tucker). Things just get over the top with action, battle scenes, chaos, as things lead up to the edge of your seat climax where the fate of the world lies in the hands of Corbin, Leeloo, Rubi, Cornelius, and his assistant David (Charlie Creed-Miles). I first heard about this movie by seeing a behind the scenes special on HBO or some other cable channel when I was a teenager, it looked over the top and silly, but it also looked interesting. I finally got to see it, and my initial reaction is that I loved it, it was crazy, the colours were bright, the sets were fantastic, the costumes were just insane, and Mila Jovovich was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, especially in her skimpy outfit and with that bright orange hair. However as soon as Christ Tucker came on screen as Rubi Rhod, I cringed, and I felt embarrassed to be watching his performance. Much later, after watching the movie quite a few times, I started to feel and understanding of his character, and appreciate it. He represents the self-indulgent over the top radio/television host, who is a spectacle and obnoxious, his character is a exaggerated depiction of people who actually exist. It helps to show the decadence that people have reached in this future society. Women are demeaned to sex objects, and men have become weaker,the world has become more about excess and consumerism, and these are the things have began to thrive in a world of destruction of the self and of the planet. I feel that this is all intentional so that when Leeloo asks, what is worth saving, that the audience agree with her, what about this world of self indulgence is worth saving. The answer of course is love, as that is really the answer to all things. We need to start to love each other, and to love the earth that gives us life, we need to start working together to create a better world for all, and not continue to live for what only benefits the self. That is the message that I take from watching this movie. The earth has become a weak world of subservient women and weak willed men that bow to the corporations that control the world, the world needed a hero like Corben Dallas and a strong heroine like Leeloo. This is really a beautiful movie, with amazing imagery, tight action sequences, a crazy story that fluidly jumps from character to character, and it is great that Zorg the villain, and Corben the hero never once share the screen, I found that interesting. The cast is absolutely fantastic in this film, so is the writing. I like that the filmmakers chose to do brightly coloured sets and costumes rather than the typical dark space ship setting of most sci-fi films. This is definitely a movie worth seeing. It did well in the box office, though it did have mixed reviews, and has become a cult hit as well. Would I recommend this film? Yes, I would absolutely recommend this amazing movie, it is a lot of fun, and you can take it lightly, or you can take it seriously and look for deeper meaning, either way leads to an enjoyable movie experience. If you have not seen it, definitely check it out, if you have seen it, get some friends together and watch it again.