Last night I saw Luc Besson's latest film, and loved it.  The person I was with thought it was empty of value, too fast, had no story with caring about, and artless.  Based on the comments at Rotten Tomatoes, I'd say the majority of the world agrees with my friend, and not with me.  I actually want to see it again.  I had read nothing about the movie before I saw it. I had heard there was a new movie coming out by Besson about a year ago, but I had no idea it was out until I saw a description of it while rifling through the new releases at my local theatre.

I thought it was wonderfully campy and artful and had a real sense of the absurd. The :"bad guys" were typical space-orc-looking fellows, reminiscent of the storm troopers or the evil Mangalore warriors in The Fifth Element.  The "good guys" consisted of rather rock-star looking elves that remind one of Leeloo in the 5th, or of any wild-haired fantasy humanoid in Legend, The Dark Crystal, Brian Froud, and various anime.  The characterizations are fun to watch, the costumes are sexy, playful, and gorgeous- a fine fusion between French fashion and Japanese staples of anime personae: the big boots, inconceivably tiny waists coupled with gigantic eyes and faces topped with a bouffant of loud hair.

The cast for the live action and the animated aspects were rather… amazing, strange, and perhaps nontraditional.  I love Besson, and over the years I think I’ve gotten an appreciation of his aesthetic.  The little boy’s grand mother and mother were the actresses Mia Farrow and Penny Balfour- both are thin, blonde, and hyperactively elegant women.  They both remind me of whippets. 

The main character takes a “Honey I shrunk the Kids”-esque trip into the land of small- the Minimoys.  Again, this reminds me of HIStK as well as of Dot and the Kangaroo- a 1977movie where a young girl in Australian moves past a fence and then becomes a cartoon while the rest of the Australian outback around her stays as a live action film.  Anyway, as a part of this shift- the main character is transformed from a rather average boy into a stylized anime-elf boy complete with the white-flyaway Dandelion hair and big boots.  While only 12, he falls for the Princess of the Minimoys, the 1000 year old Selenia.  Apparently some Americans hated this aspect of the plot- a little too Harold and Maude for them.  French and European audiences in general seemed to take no issue with it. 

 The American version was also dubbed, as the original was entirely in French, so the dubbing on the animated characters is occasionally off. I did notice it, and wondered why it was happening.  Also, at times, the lines seemed rushed- apparently this was because the French dialogue was relatively short compared to the English.  Originally, the film was envisioned for an older crowd, and it was thought that it would be subtitled- however, because Besson decided to market it to a much younger audience, we are left with occasionally-annoying dubbing.

The music was also all over the place.  From beautiful moments of soundtrack work to a 5^th-reminescent fight between the protagonists and the evil henchmen that takes place on an actual record player that is playing an album containing “Son of a Preacher Man” (heard another time in the movie as well!) and “Stayin’ Alive” among others.  The music was so odd and nuanced it was occasionally distracting- but I suppose I enjoy these little hat tips Besson does in his movies, as if to say “My art is built upon a series of remarkable influences. No really.  Here is one right now! *insert obvious culture/media reference*”.  I suppose a lot of the reviewers hated that aspect of the movie, but I found it rather endearing. 

The audio continues to be a bit odd in Besson’s casting choices.  While watching the movie, I knew about a couple of the names, but I didn’t actually detect even half of the well-known stars in the film.  Madonna is Princess Selenia, Jimmy Fallon plays her brother, the Prince Betameche, Robert De Niro plays their kind and silly father, the King.  Harvey Keitel plays the kind Miro, Chazz Palminteri plays the crochety Minimoy Travel Agent, Emelio Estevez plays the Ferryman, Snoop Dogg plays the underground leader Maxx, and David Bowie plays the evilly elegant Maltazard.  The entire cast of such known actors is a little overwhelming.  I suppose Besson likes to do this sort of thing, but still, it is pretty crazy hearing so many memorable voices.  It wasn’t as distracting as I thought it would be.  Walking into it, the only voice that was undeniable was Bowie’s.  The others just sort of tugged at my brain occasionally.

The second half of the movie which was primarily animated was also very, very fast. Sometimes it was hard to follow the action as it moved along at such a fierce pace.  I rather enjoyed it- I had to stay on my toes and just let myself be taken in by this absurd, highly stylized, very contrived, and perhaps even dilettante work by one of my favourite actors.

I’d recommend you see it, if only for the design and execution. Don’t go into it thinking this is a piece that stands alone like a Pixar movie.  This is Besson’s first forey into animation, and it is a visual delight with a strange pace, texture, and presentation.  Enjoy, and appreciate it kindly.