Subject: REVIEW: THE FIFTH ELEMENT (1997)

From: [email-masked] (Christopher Null)
Date: 20 May 1997 01:10:23 GMT

THE FIFTH ELEMENT
                      A film review by Christopher Null
                       Copyright 1997 Christopher Null

.    I have seen the future, and it is very French.

     What can I say about THE FIFTH ELEMENT that you haven't probably
heard already?  Not much, but I will say that THE FIFTH ELEMENT is a
mess -- a mess of grand proportions, full of dazzling colors, lights,
explosions, outfits, and... hairstyles.  Designer John-Paul Gaultier's
involvement with Luc Besson's creation (the most expensive French
production ever) is well-known, as is Milla Jovovich's role as Leeloo,
supposedly the most perfect being (but I wouldn't have pegged her as
being so flaky).

     The plot, what there is of one, is your basic "cab driver saves the
world from a big flying ball of evil using magic rocks" story, with
Bruce Willis as the cabbie in question and Gary Oldman as the corporate
tycoon who wants the rocks for himself.  And while lots of things blow
up, most of the film is just plain boring and idiotic -- especially
Chris Tucker's performance as Ruby, an indecipherable, intergalactic
Dennis Rodman-meets-Rosie O'Donnell talk show host.  Plus there's the
blatant rip offs from BLADE RUNNER and BRAZIL that I won't even get
started on.

     Enough already.  My bet?  Wait until summer for the real sci-fi to
fly.

RATING:  **

|------------------------------|
 \ ***** Perfection             \
  \ **** Good, memorable film    \
   \ *** Average, hits and misses \
    \ ** Sub-par on many levels    \
     \ * Unquestionably awful       \
      |------------------------------|

-Christopher Null  /  [email-masked]  /  Writer-Producer
-Visit the Movie Emporium at http://www.filmcritic.com
-and Null Set Productions at http://www.filmcritic.com/nullset.htm