Pluses: great production design, as one should expect from a Luc Besson film. Great CG work: beautifully integrated and almost sprawlingly wonderful. Some interesting nods to Fifth Element. A decent enough story, even if not very well told. Some nice eye candy in the opening school bus foray.
But...
Negatives: the two leads were... well, not dreadful, just... meh. He didn't come anywhere near to being the supposed hot stud, and she certainly had her Valley Girls moments. They both got seriously annoying after a while. Couple that with a script that felt like a first draft, with one enormous plot hole... I mean, we're talking massive here (see below), and you get something that's, while great style, has little substance to back it up. It's mindless fun, but you'll probably get everything you want in one sitting.
SPOILER: Okay, that plot hole... Where did the last remaining Converter come from? Everyone who survived was trapped inside the capsule. This little guy was outside and no doubt was wiped out along with everything else... so where did he come from? We know the bad guy somehow got one, but given that this species never even developed space travel, did someone drop by and take one home as a souvenir? That right there dropped a rating point for me.
But...
Negatives: the two leads were... well, not dreadful, just... meh. He didn't come anywhere near to being the supposed hot stud, and she certainly had her Valley Girls moments. They both got seriously annoying after a while. Couple that with a script that felt like a first draft, with one enormous plot hole... I mean, we're talking massive here (see below), and you get something that's, while great style, has little substance to back it up. It's mindless fun, but you'll probably get everything you want in one sitting.
SPOILER: Okay, that plot hole... Where did the last remaining Converter come from? Everyone who survived was trapped inside the capsule. This little guy was outside and no doubt was wiped out along with everything else... so where did he come from? We know the bad guy somehow got one, but given that this species never even developed space travel, did someone drop by and take one home as a souvenir? That right there dropped a rating point for me.