The Fifth Element (1997)

Set in the 23rd century, a former special forces Major (Bruce Willis) now working as a taxi driver has a strange young woman (Milla Jovovich) literally fall into his cab. This encounter will set off a mission to save the planet Earth from evil forces intent on its destruction. Co-written and directed by Luc Besson, this is an ambitious and dazzling piece of science fiction. The film belongs to its production design (Dan Wells), art direction and set decoration teams, Jean Paul Gaultier's costume designs and Thierry Arbogast's (LA FEMME NIKITA) wide screen cinematography. It's a punch drunk sci-fi movie with doses of comedy between its action scenes. It might even have been a classic of its genre if it had been a bit better than it is. This film is hampered by a truly mind blowing awful, shrill performance by Chris Tucker that is supposed to provide comedy relief but it wasn't funny in 1997 and even more embarrassing in 2020. Why Besson though it fitted in into his film is a head scratcher. The film won several Cesar awards (the French Oscar) and received mostly positive reviews but it had its detractors too. Not near perfect but good enough but oh that unbearable Tucker performance! With Gary Oldman (who hates the film), Ian Holm, Luke Perry, Brion James, John Neville and Maiwenn (whose operatic singing voice is dubbed by Inva Mula)