Filled with daring visuals and stylized to the point of part genius and mainly acid-trip absurdity, The Fifth Element is wholly unique and vastly entertaining. Combining practical effects, CG and all the colors of the rainbow into an anti-Blade Runner, hallucinogenic science-fiction spectacle, director Luc Besson has again created an unforgettable movie-going experience. It’s packed with action, romance, comedy and aliens and most importantly no-holds-barred entertainment.

In 1914 Egypt, several powerful and secret stones are being guarded by alien beings that routinely visit informed human priests, wary of their extremely important mission. The stones will eventually be used to defend Earth from an ultimate evil – 300 years later.

Human cities have transformed into a futuristic megalopolis, complete with flying cars, jam-packed airways, and spaceships (the design is nearly reused in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace for the bustling cityscape of Coruscant). When the government is faced with an asteroid-like dark force estimated to represent doomsday, a cosmic fifth element weapon is sent for, only to be attacked by rogue alien vessels. Scientists are able to recover bits of DNA from the human-like organism and undergo a cellular reconstruction of the perfect alien being. But she isn’t quite ready to save the world, and flees from the facility.

Retired elite Special Forces military hero Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis) spends his time as a lowly cab driver, always on the verge of losing his license. Minding his own business proves impossible when the fifth element, named Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) crash-lands into Dallas’ cab, immediately getting him caught up in the adventure of a lifetime. Illegal weapons racketeer and crime boss Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg (Gary Oldman) is in league with the evil entity intent on destroying Earth and seeks the ancient guarded stones, along with the government and Father Vito Cornelius (Ian Holm), the last remaining priest knowledgeable of the stone’s powers and a key interpreter for saving civilization.

Visionary director Luc Besson, who also wrote the screenplay, manages to create several of the most exotic and original characters for this magnum opus of sci-fi outlandishness. The limping Zorg is unpredictably insane; his henchmen are brutish, grotesque alien thugs with chameleonic capabilities; the stones are looked after by a blue-skinned tentacled diva, and the entire quest is led by TV personality Ruby Rhod (Chris Tucker), a transgender leopard-print Riddler with intrusively shaped multi-colored hair. The hairstyles, costumes, makeup, sets and vivid colors of Besson’s futuristic playground demonstrate a flair for out-of-this-world imagery.

When Korben is presented with the nerve-wracking declaration that he has one hour and fifty-seven minutes to save the Earth, he calmly replies: “I’ll call you back in two hours.” It may be an epic battle between good and evil, layered with tense action, adventure and pervasive originality, but it’s also tinged with humor at every turn. It rolls every genre into one powerhouse rollercoaster with no stops, creating a very unique…everything.

- Mike Massie

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