I love the film, warts and all. There is a full perfect hour in it. From just after the flashback in Egypt till Leeloo and Dallas leave the airport, "The Fifth Element" is a rollercoaster full of visual splendor, jokes, action and some of the tightest editing this side of "The Terminator".
Unfortunately the film dips badly after that and never quite recovers, but I still have a major soft spot for it. One of my highlights last year was seeing the new remastered BluRay, especially after the series of sub-par DVD-versions (and one atrocious first release on BluRay) which had been available so far.
Whether she was part of the cast or part of the special effects (opinions differ), one of the reasons why that first hour was so good was that writer/director Luc Besson knew exactly what to do with Ukrainian-born supermodel Milla Jovovich. Limited actress or not, Besson played on Milla's strengths, her physical appearance and abilities. And it made her a fan-favorite overnight.
Fast forward 13 years and here we are. For a while Milla was the best-paid model in the world and is still "the face" of several huge brands. She recorded music albums, presented shows for MTV, and worked with a wide variety of directors for her acting career. How wide? Well: Wim Wenders, Michael Winterbottom, Spike Lee, Bob Rafelson, David Twohy...
Thing is, she never really "starred" in any of those films though. For that to happen Milla needed guns (lots of them). Because what the general public apparently still wants to see is Milla jumping around like a nimble little minx, fighting clueless adversaries and monsters.
So from this week onward, dual-Uzi-wielding Milla can be spotted backflipping and cartwheeling again in "Resident Evil: Afterlife", the fourth film in that particular franchise (in glorious IMAX 3D no less...).
And no matter how crappy her movies may or may not be, I still love to see her do it.
Which means that once again, instead of the usual ScreenAnarchy-O-Meter list I'd like to do a gallery of 5 close-ups of another one of my favorite ehh... thespians.
Guess which 5 movies they're from and I'll post the answers on Monday (or earlier if someone has all 5 of them right).
No competition, no prizes, just for fun, try to see how far you get without using IMDB.
The picture above from "The Fifth Element" doesn't count (as that would be a tad too bloody easy), but good luck with the others!