Subject: REVIEW: THE FIFTH ELEMENT (1997)

From: [email-masked] (Lewis Butler)
Date: 14 May 1997 00:05:53 GMT

THE FIFTH ELEMENT
                       A film review by Lewis Butler
                        Copyright 1997 Lewis Butler

	In short: A slamming action picture that owes a lot to 
	BLADERUNNER, HEAVY METAL, STAR WARS and the 
	computer game HELL CAB, to name a few.  Bruce Willis 
	puts in a steady performance as sort of John McClain of the 
	23rd century. The visual impact of the film is an important 
	part of the film, and there are tons fo details to keep your 
	attention.  The film is basically pulp, but well executed and 
	always fun.  A steady +2 (-4 to +4, 0 is average).

What can you say about a movie that shows a ring of red traffic lights
hovering in space?  THE FIFTH ELEMENT has the feeling of a comic book come
to life, and I mean that as a compliment.  There is a lot here that has
been done before, but never this well.  The film spends a lot of time
getting the little things right and assumes you'll go along with the
overall silliness of the main plot.  And you do.  The whole thing works
somehow.

There are references throughout the film to other movies, and there is a
whole 1930's Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon feeling to the whole epic.  The main
plot line is trivial and not worth going into here, what works best is the
overall presense of the film.  I was reminded of Steve Rude's artwork for
many of the scenes, and the entire sequence on the cruise ship could have
been stright out of the comic book NEXUS.

Gary Oldman turns in a wonderful performance as a psychotic power hungry
servant of evil (Mr. Shadow). And everyone else in the movie does what
needs to be done.  There is a particular performance that deserves
recognition, the role of the outlandish Dennis Rodman-styled DJ is
outstanding.  I don't know who the actor is, but he turns in a wonderfully
comic performance.

The special effects, of course, deserve their praise.  Some people might
dislike the comic-book look to some of the mattes and some of the city
scenes, but I found the whole thing quite appropriate.

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