Subject: REVIEW: THE FIFTH ELEMENT (1997)

From: [email-masked] (Noah Veil)
Date: 6 May 1997 00:48:34 GMT

THE FIFTH ELEMENT
                       A film review by Noah Veil
                        Copyright 1997 Noah Veil

MASTERPIECE ALERT

	Of course it's easy to over react since I just saw it at the
Dome in Hollywood, but this film completely blew my mind. It's
unquestionably one of the best Sci-fi films ever made, Bladerunner
with a sense of humor, Heavy Metal with brains, the first Star Trek
film without the pretentions, and of course 2001 with four triangles
instead of one monolith.
	As a film critic, I'm lucky enough to see films having heard
nothing about them. When you've heard too many good things about a
film, it can become an anticipointment, i.e. something that
disappoints simply because you anticipate it so much. I promise I
won't give anything away, but I don't think I can possibly blow this
movie for you, it's so consistantly inventive and fun. I've never seen
a film that openly borrows from so many sources yet somehow manages to
be totally original.
	Other critics may trash it because it's such an audience
pleaser. At last night's screening, there were at least four
incredible sequences in the film that got the whole audience roaring
and applauding with approval. One sequence in particular borrows from
the baptism scene in the Godfather, the cantina scene in Star Wars,
and the whole film Diva. It's a virtuoso display of editing back and
forth between opera and rock that shows as much filmmaking bravado as
I have ever witnessed. It also manages to send up Bruce Willis movies
while actually BEING a Bruce Willis movie.
	I've liked the films of director Luc Besson (Subway, Le Femme
Nikita, The Professional) but nothing prepared me for the skill he
displays here, balancing action, passion, and humor in dozens of
startling new ways. He's always had Kubrick's eye for symmetry, and
this film looks better than Bladerunner (It was designed by Heavy
Metal artist Mobius). 
	I could go on and on. You heard it here first. The best film
of the year and an absolute must see.

MD

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