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I was rewatching it for the millionth time earlier today and I gotta say every time I see this movie. I enjoy it more and more.
The fifth element isn't some philosophical art piece, it's not overly complex moralistic drama, it's not even a good action movie with badass stunts and cool villains, and it's much more serious than your average comedy. After watching it so many times. I've come to enjoy it that it's fully intended to be a campy light-hearted fun experience that doesn't get nearly enough recognition because it's not constantly tugging at your moralistic center or posing a ton of philosophical dilemmas to the viewer.
the movie starts out extremely campy and has all your tired cliches that we have all seen in millions of movies over the years and it knows it... it deliberately points to the fact that Korbin Dallas is just a gunman "meat popsicle" whose only value to the plot is to shoot things and drop one-liner "badass guy" cliches throughout the movie. He is technically the protagonist, but the audience is meant to relate to Leeloo more so. The story deliberately makes fun of almost every serious moment it and every movie has without bashing you over the head with the fact that it's mocking those movies. A perfect example of this is when you see Zorg in his office talking to the Priest monologuing on how chaos creates life and that he's all about life and its future to then immediately choke on a cherry. then the priest also makes a somewhat mocking monologue back towards him.
At no point does this movie claim to be deep, introspective, emotional, or philosophical without deliberately cracking a joke right afterward. the plot ends up panning out that Korbin (the kickass soldier) is actually the one who needed help and that Leeloo was actually the one who wasn't in distress.
the lightheartedness of the movie and its campiness even goes into the art design. the whole world is set in what seems to be an industrialized sci-fi aesthetic that's supposed to give off the idea that the world they live being gritty and depressing, but then pulls you right out of this wannabe dystopian world and throws you into a lunar raygun style aesthetic where everything is fantastical and over the top. a good example is that this one ship has like 50 pools in it for what looks like maybe 100+ people and a few aliens only to later throw all of that out the window and set you in the feeling of being in a standard 80s action movie. The story just flows over so many genres of storytelling while making fun of all of them in a way that never feels condescending or like it's beating you over with its points about cliche.
If you have never seen The Fifth Element. Go watch it! it's intended to be a fun burst of a rollercoaster that you never have to really think too hard about while also hitting on every genre beat with just enough force to not become too overdone or annoying.
The fifth element isn't some philosophical art piece, it's not overly complex moralistic drama, it's not even a good action movie with badass stunts and cool villains, and it's much more serious than your average comedy. After watching it so many times. I've come to enjoy it that it's fully intended to be a campy light-hearted fun experience that doesn't get nearly enough recognition because it's not constantly tugging at your moralistic center or posing a ton of philosophical dilemmas to the viewer.
the movie starts out extremely campy and has all your tired cliches that we have all seen in millions of movies over the years and it knows it... it deliberately points to the fact that Korbin Dallas is just a gunman "meat popsicle" whose only value to the plot is to shoot things and drop one-liner "badass guy" cliches throughout the movie. He is technically the protagonist, but the audience is meant to relate to Leeloo more so. The story deliberately makes fun of almost every serious moment it and every movie has without bashing you over the head with the fact that it's mocking those movies. A perfect example of this is when you see Zorg in his office talking to the Priest monologuing on how chaos creates life and that he's all about life and its future to then immediately choke on a cherry. then the priest also makes a somewhat mocking monologue back towards him.
At no point does this movie claim to be deep, introspective, emotional, or philosophical without deliberately cracking a joke right afterward. the plot ends up panning out that Korbin (the kickass soldier) is actually the one who needed help and that Leeloo was actually the one who wasn't in distress.
the lightheartedness of the movie and its campiness even goes into the art design. the whole world is set in what seems to be an industrialized sci-fi aesthetic that's supposed to give off the idea that the world they live being gritty and depressing, but then pulls you right out of this wannabe dystopian world and throws you into a lunar raygun style aesthetic where everything is fantastical and over the top. a good example is that this one ship has like 50 pools in it for what looks like maybe 100+ people and a few aliens only to later throw all of that out the window and set you in the feeling of being in a standard 80s action movie. The story just flows over so many genres of storytelling while making fun of all of them in a way that never feels condescending or like it's beating you over with its points about cliche.
If you have never seen The Fifth Element. Go watch it! it's intended to be a fun burst of a rollercoaster that you never have to really think too hard about while also hitting on every genre beat with just enough force to not become too overdone or annoying.
