The futuristic city with flying cars at the beginning of the movie definitely has all the cyberpunk visuals, and technically Zorg is the head of an evil corporation. But the real villain of the movie is incoming force of evil/darkness. And the plot is resolved through the power of love. Even the President of Earth is actively trying to help do the right thing and save the planet.
While there are some great cyberpunk visuals at the beginning of the movie, I don't know if the themes are there to call this cyberpunk. What do you think? Would you consider The Fifth Element to be cyberpunk?
This is a very fair take on the whole genre influence thing. More aesthetic similarities yet less story mechanics that are found to define genres. Let's give open creativity a chance before we stick some label on that produces low effort drudgery.
Exactly. It reminds me of high versus low fantasy. I feel like when other themes are mixed in it makes the story feel more familiar and the world more grounded. It's definitely possible to have cyberpunk out in front and above all else but I prefer when it isn't forced into that position.
Very true. Just like there's high fantasy vs low fantasy, there's almost a "cyberpunk by aesthetic" and "cyberpunk by themes" distinction in cyberpunk.