I love watching and reviewing new movies. However, there are a lot of old nerdy movies that I love and want to review. Flashback Reviews will take a look at some of my favorite nerdy movies from the past.
The Fifth Element is one of my favorite science fiction movies ever. I saw it in the theater at least five times and listened to the soundtrack nonstop on my Discman. I actually remember seeing Bruce Willis on Letterman promoting a different movie while filming The Fifth Element. He had his blond hair and said he was sworn to secrecy about the project he was working on. I could have done without the blond hair but his portrayal of Corbin Dallas was awesome.
Here are some reflections from The Fifth Element. I won’t keep things spoiler-free because the movie came out 16 years ago.
Great Evil
The villain in The Fifth Element couldn’t be any more evil; it is known as the Great Evil. It’s a giant black sphere that consumes everything in its path. The only weapon against the Great Evil is the Fifth Element, a weapon created by armadillo aliens. The Great Evil feeds off anger and aggression, only getting larger when attacked. The Great Evil is a good analogy for sin. Sin just grows and grows the more that it is fed. The Great Evil stretched throughout the galaxy and we can see sin’s effects all around us. The world is groaning under the weight of sin, eagerly waiting the full redemption we’ll all find when Christ returns. I’m very much looking forward to Christ’s return but I will be a little weirded out if he looks like Leeloo.
Leeloo
I’ve never seen any of the Resident Evil movies but I love Milla Jovovich as Leeloo. Leeloo is the Fifth Element, the ultimate weapon created to defeat the Great Evil. Leeloo is a multilayered character, strong and vulnerable, wise and naïve. She’s a good example of what Jesus means when he calls us to be shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves. Leeloo was definitely shrewd and venomous when she went all Bruce Lee on the Mangalores. She was also innocent, though, when learning about humanity’s sins and brokenness. We should try to follow Leeloo’s example and be innocent of humanity’s sins but fiercely dedicated to the mission of God’s kingdom.
Love
Ultimately, the weapon that takes down both the Great Evil in The Fifth Element and the great evil of sin in our world is love. Leeloo needed to know what love was in order to defeat the Great Evil. We needed love to come down from heaven in order to defeat the sin in our lives. God is love and he shows that love for us by sending Jesus to die for our sins. Because of Jesus we have the opportunity for eternal life, which we can begin living in the here and now. I was excited at the end of The Fifth Element when Leeloo saved the planet. It’s far more exciting, though, that Jesus came to our planet, saved us from our sins and showed us how to live the best life possible. Now, if I could have all of that from Jesus and a flying car my life would be set.
There are so many great parts about The Fifth Element. Bruce Willis is great, there’s a giant blue opera singer, old Bilbo gets to be the comedic relief and Gary Oldman is one of the best sci-fi villains ever. If you haven’t watched The Fifth Element lately pull out your DVD or fire it up on Netflix streaming (just kidding, it’s not on Netflix streaming anymore).
What thoughts do you have from The Fifth Element?
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