The Fifth Element (1997)

Somewhere along the way someone should have told Luc Besson he was having a bit too much fun with their money. Oh. And executed Chris Tucker. I've seen a lot of movies and off the top of my head I can't come up with a single character anywhere near as annoying as Ruby Rhod. What gang of morons sat there watching this shrieking and useless little twerp embarrass even the worst of the others involved without telling the director he missed the mark by several baseball-fields? Oh well. From ranting to review.

Besson never was one for subtlety and all hints are clear on the border of the sun directly into your eyes. That's bad enough. Worse is the fact that he overdoes almost every single scene here. And he doesn't really hit the parody-genre either. Every chase, every piece of action, every sentimental or romantic scene. He seems to have to use every trick every time. Draining. Not to mention the characters. Mostly the same there, with the awful, awful Tucker and Gary Oldman serving as good examples. When you can't use Oldman for anything productive, you truly are a horrible director.

The costumes were designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier. So you have fat bouncers in skin-tight leather hotpants. The horror. In general it's exceptionally exaggerated and daft. Like most other aspects here. I have no idea if he designed the Mangalores as well, but it would make sense. They look like something Peter Jackson would toss in as an extra in "Braindead" or even "Bad Taste".

If you'd never seen Willis before, this flick could almost make you think he is underrated as a comedian. But some of the reason is likely to be that there are so many stressful and irritating characters here that Willis' more cynical and calm approach to his surroundings is most refreshing. Besides, his signs of self-loathing and self-questioning reminds me of Joe Hallenbeck. It's a good thing. Tommy Lister as the president is pretty bad., the whining mom is stupid beyond all that is comprehensible and Luke Perry just as tedious as when he was shagging Brenda.

I never really was a big fan of Eric Serra (with a couple of exceptions) and in that respect he delivers here. A most dreadful score, taking too much of the viewer's concentration, and for the wrong reasons at the wrong time. A slight exception is his little opera-piece. Who knew? This is the second best scene of the film, mostly due to the editing, though not without its flaws.

As for the entertainment value, there a lot of things going on, and you're never really bored. There are even some great set pieces. Unfortunately, Tucker as a commentator throughout the best one ruins most of the fun. Besson doesn't seem to know which genre he's in. He's too busy having fun. Too bad he didn't make it a ride the rest of us could enjoy too.

4/10