SF with a European sheen
The Earth is threatened. Stones must be found to put the evil to rest. Oldman wants the stones for himself.
The movie truly lurches all over the place. It takes forever to get going and once it does it finds plenty of reasons to stop and whiz at the next rest stop instead developing anything passing as cinematic rhythm. The sparse jokes are telegraphed. Things happen so conveniently or quickly that that old bugaboo, suspension of disbelief, is at Snap City.
An SF story is at a huge disadvantage story-wise. A cops 'n' robbers story set in present day New York just tells the story. You've seen and know New York, so exposition is not wasted explaining it.
The thoroughly handicapped SF flick has to explain that "universe's" premise in addition to telling a story. It takes top-notch writing to fold the two together. This movie doesn't have it.
5th does have a wonderfully funky look to it. Moebius, the genius French comic book artist, provided the art direction. That in itself makes it worth seeing. Interiors have devices constantly popping out of the floors and wall, a la those "future home" animated shorts that Warner Brothers made. Everything is gritty and used and abused. The grime permeates the cityscape.
Actors comport themselves as well as can be expected. No great shakes here. They probably wanted to get thru their lines with as minimum of fuss as possible.
The CGI of the anti-grav vehicles swarming the canyons between New York's skyscrapers is amazing at its stupefying complexity. The layers of vehicles flitting thru the air while looking a thousand feet down is a jaw-dropper. It's not quite real real, but is proof of the coming of age of CGI.
Movie is OK, but mainly form over substance. The plot and its resolution threaten to whither and blow away completely since they're so trivial. Movie just has an incredible look and the story is decent.
Movie's suitability for: