Review of The Fifth Element (1997) by Tom Z — 27 Apr 2013

Bruce Willis is one of the most well known and most beloved actors of all time. People know him for having this charisma that draws people toward one of his movies and he even has the rare quality of being able to create an enjoyable movie just from his presence in it. These characteristics stem from a long filmography of some of the most beloved films of all time (Die Hard, The Sixth Sense) and I think that this movie is one of the main reasons of why he has been so loved.

This is a fun movie. That's it, it's a fun movie and I highly recommend anyone check it out. Don't expect it to challenge your mind, but still expect it to entertain and have fun doing it. It's also a really over the top movie which is a make or break for some people. In my opinion, I don't mind an over the top film (Nicolas Cage is my favorite actor). So beware of the bizarre events and characters that are in this movie, everyone is brought up to a ten on the acting scale in this, especially Gary Oldman and Milla Jovovich. But that all adds to the fun. I actually thought that Gary Oldman did the best job in this movie.

The effects were also very impressive for the time period and so were the action sequences. I think most of the effects were practical but the actually CG and stuff looked pretty good, being from 1997. But the practical effects were great. The costumes and set pieces were really cool. I really enjoyed that stuff but I also enjoyed the action sequences too. They reminded me a lot of Die Hard. I think that was what they were going for, Die Hard in space and they did it, with style. Near the end of it when Bruce Willis and the radio DJ (who was the most over the top for sure) were killing the aliens in the cruise ship was especially exciting. I loved it!

I was pleasantly surprised with this movie. The effects were very good, and the acting was actually pretty good (for sure enjoyable). I'm just a big fan of movies like like this. Ones that are so gleefully over the top and can laugh at themselves when they need to, and you can laugh at it too. It never does take itself that seriously and it really brings something to it that a lot of films don't, entertainment. I could totally see this movie being that Star Wars rip-off that just gets lost with time, but it's not and this is a pretty infamous movie. It doesn't try to be interestingly directed or daringly artistic, it just goes to entertain, and it entertains the hell out of you.