This movie rates high on my overall list just because it is a fun movie. It doesn’t make you think (at least not too much), it doesn’t make you too sad, it doesn’t have any redeeming humanistic qualities other than it is a fun Sci-Fi movie with a bit of fantasy added in. It doesn’t have anything in it that says “This is a great movie”; yet it is. If I had to define it as something I would call it “The Fun Factor”. It is both visually stunning for the eyes, a catalyst for your adrenaline system, and easy on the frontal lobes.
The plot Basically the world is coming to the end. A great evil in the universe is awakened every so often and it takes and elements and the Supreme Being to protect Earth from this great and unstoppable evil. Also, the events of this movie take place in the future. Our hero is a taxi driver who unfortunately lands himself in the middle of this mess (or rather something lands to make his life a mess.) He is a reluctant hero but a hero just the same. It is up to him to recover the stones and protect earth with the help of some more informed individuals.
The story and writing One of the things I like about how this story is told is a lot of it is told through action. There are no long monologues explaining what is going on and no boring dialogues (for the most part) between different characters. None of that boring stuff that attempts to clarify the world you are in, you have to just figure it out for yourself for much of the movie.
The acting Ok, great acting? No. Good acting? Yes. No one is going to win an award here but they do the job. They know their character well and keep the characteristics consistent throughout the movie. Bruce Willis plays a taxi cab driver (Korben Dallas) who used to be a war hero. He is not happy with his current job but there isn’t much else he thinks he can do. At least until he meets this girl. In a study done recently it shows that male IQ’s go down 5 points in the presence of a beautiful woman, well his IQ went down 30 points at least because of the power of the seductive woman and the following actions of Korben Dallas. Bruce Willis is able to convey a wide range of emotions. He isn’t the typical cardboard cut out of a hero, he is a real person. He interacts with each character uniquely. He can act like a bumbling idiot at one moment and a confident hero the next, yet his personality feels very real. I didn’t see Bruce Willis, I see Korben Dallas when I see him acting. I felt his changes in personality (while possibly exaggerated) were realistic and convincing.
Gary Oldman plays Zorg, the evil arms dealer in the story that will do anything to get ahead. He plays the perfect bad guy. Someone you wouldn’t want to meet with personally or professionally. He is someone to be feared. Man I love this role.
Milla Jovovich plays Leeloo, a hot human looking alien. Perfect in her gene code and her looks. Heck, my IQ must go down by 10 points when I see her on screen. She is the beauty but has a purpose. It is also the job of Korben Dallas to help her complete her task.
Chris Tucker plays Ruby Rhod and man do I hate this guy (Rhod, not Chris Tucker). He is conceited and annoying. Yet when the fur flies, he is the funniest part of the movie. During the small part of the movie he is in, he becomes the eyes of the audience and we see that part of the film through his eyes. It is a small part, but it works. Would I have liked to see someone more likable? Yes but it probably wouldn’t have worked. This worked because Ruby Rhod and Korben Dallas are complete opposites. This is reflected in their interactions and how they view the world they are in.
The character development This is one of the weaker parts of this movie. I personally don’t have a problem with it because I don’t really want to know the characters inside and out, but as a critique I have to point out that this is weak. I don’t develop a heck of a lot of emotion for the characters of the story. If anyone of them died, I wouldn’t be heart broken (until the very end that is). And those that did die I wasn’t bothered by. The exception to all this emotion is with Bruce Willis’ role but even then you only get to know his demons on the surface, not the one burning deep within his soul screaming to come out.
The pacing The pacing of the second half is perfect. You have the characters mostly developed (of what little is developed) and the rest of the character development is done through action, not dialog (which in my opinion is the best way to do it.) So the movie just flows very smoothly and quickly in the second and third acts. The pacing on the first act is a little jumpy. Now it does flow well but there are also a few breaks to develop some characters, the story, and the future time this movie takes place in. The development of the world and characters here is done by both action and dialog.
The special effects They are awesome and well done. I really have no complaints. There are limits to what 1997 computer graphics could do so they kept those to a minimum and relied a lot more on costuming, explosions, models, and carefully chosen camera angles. A wise choice.
Replay value High. This is just a fun film to watch and something I will watch at a moments notice. It is one of my few Blu-Ray discs I have bought.
The 5.1 sound This is the first movie I watched where I truly appreciated listening to it in 5.1. I was blown away by the level of detail. At one scene in the airport you can hear something different going on in each speaker, which is exactly like you would in real life. It made that scene (and many others) that much more believable. So far to date it is my favorite movie in this department.
Should children watch it? I could only recommend this to mature children.
Genre: Sci-Fi
The key players Director: Luc Besson Writers: Luc Besson, Robert Kamen, & Robert Garland Music: Eric Serra
My End Line. Just a fun Science Fiction movie. This is not going to change your perspective on humanity, scare you into smashing your collection of robots, or make you all warm and fuzzy. This is just a movie experience, and the experience so many other movies missed. For whatever reason (and I’m at a loss to say what) it just worked. If you want a fun well done movie then this is it.
New York cab driver Korben Dallas didn't mean to be hero. But he just picked up the kind of fare that only comes along every five thousand years.More at HotMovieSale.com
New York cab driver Korben Dallas didn t mean to be a hero. But he just picked up the kind of fare that only comes along every five thousand years - a...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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