D: Netflix recommended that I rewatch this and you know what, I’m happy they it did because I forgot how awesome this one is.
I think what I enjoy the most about it is that this is one of the few sci-fi flicks that, while dealing with end of the world stakes, does not wallow in the dour and the gritty. It’s bright, cheerful and borderline campy, but there is still drama and tension. There’s elements of a bunch of other films like Star Wars, &
Blade Runner specifically, but in a goofy manner.
The aliens are fun, the world is insane – like future Tokyo on mushrooms – and the acting is just off the wall. Why they don’t make more films that have quality and fun, I don’t know. I’m hoping that some of the tone from here is in Guardians of the Galaxy.
It’s a tough one to really dissect because there’s so much going on. I mean one of the top billed people on the film is Jean Paul Gaultier who did the costumes. His influence is so ingrained in the film that many of the supporting characters are played by models. This isn’t because of their acting abilities or even their looks, but because of how they wear the costumes in the way the designer intended. As if the film is just an extended and crazy runway show.
The director, Luc Besson, made a bunch of films in his native France before coming to the US and doing Leon: The Professional which is a fairly subdued action film with odd undertones. It’s awesome but in no way intimated what he was planning to do with this. He’s trailed off into bad action films over the last few years but these two films are worth revisiting.
