Marc Lee Daily Telegraph (UK) Jul 16, 2026

Bruce Willis is a taxi driver indistinguishable from all the other shirt-less, blu-collar heroes he has ever played.

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Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Jul 15, 2026 3/4

This gonzo sci-fi outing proves to be a messy amalgam -- a motion picture with the body of a mainstream blockbuster but the spirit of a trendy cult flick.

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Wesley Lovell Cinema Sight Jul 6, 2025 3.5/4

His prior successes were all the help he needed to redefine the genre and provide richly textured action sequences

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Thomas Lethbridge Screen Rant Nov 15, 2024 8/10

Released in 1997, it's remarkable how well Luc Besson's The Fifth Element still holds up, nearly three decades after its initial release.

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Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review Sep 6, 2023 3/4

As irresistible—if occasionally annoying—popcorn-munching escapism, The Fifth Element remains an experience of diversionary entertainment, and almost exclusively about rehashing previously explored surfaces with a new sheen.

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Travis Johnson Flicks (AU, NZ, UK) Jun 7, 2022

A sci-fi film a million aesthetic miles away from the industrial dystopias, dusty wastelands, and sterile starships of most screen SF of the time.

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Eddie Harrison film-authority.com Feb 17, 2021 4/5

...a distinctive Moebius-inspired gumbo that's easy to enjoy...

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Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Sep 11, 2020 9/10

Visionary filmmaker Luc Besson manages to create several of the most exotic and original characters for this magnum opus of sensory outlandishness.

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Leigh Paatsch Herald Sun (Australia) Jun 12, 2020 2/5

The brains behind The Fifth Element would have been better off adding a sixth element - common sense - to the plot, and allowing it to form a bridge between the film's fantastic visual appeal and its ramshackle plot.

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Ed Travis Cinapse Nov 6, 2018

The Fifth Element is a bold, bright, loud, rowdy, lush, extravagant science fiction space opera that wears its heart on its garish sleeve.

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Zaki Hasan Zaki's Corner Nov 2, 2018 C-

Aside from Besson's impressive directorial panache, always providing something eye-catching and original to look at...there is little else about The Fifth Element that is particularly noteworthy.

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Glenn Heath Jr. San Diego CityBeat Aug 22, 2018

It fuses slapstick with screwball comedy in brilliant ways, and appreciates the necessity of levity when considering heavy themes.

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Duane Byrge The Hollywood Reporter May 10, 2018

Narratively challenged, visually monotonous and aurally overpowering, The Fifth Element is a staggering accretion of all the wrong elements and some rather dopey ones as well.

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Tim Brayton Alternate Ending Aug 19, 2017 4.5/5

Even 20 years on, The Fifth Element hasn't lost very much of its ability to thoroughly confound and dazzle.

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Gene Siskel Chicago Tribune May 10, 2017 3/4

The Fifth Element has enough eye-appeal for two good movies.

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Jeff Beck The Blu Spot Nov 17, 2015 4/5

Luc Besson's The Fifth Element is a dazzling, funny, and exciting sci-fi actioner that features unforgettable characters and a thrilling story, making this one of the most underrated science-fiction classics around.

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Joe Leydon The Moving Picture Show Jul 19, 2014

A jaw-dropping, mind-blowing pop epic that gives you everything from the slam-bang sci-fi fantasy of Star Wars to the inspired slapstick lunacy of The Marx Brothers

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Joe Morgenstern Wall Street Journal Jul 14, 2014

In this movie and many like it, the only elements that count are impact, impact, impact and impact. The fifth element is gibberish.

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David Nusair Reel Film Reviews Mar 17, 2013 2/4

Loud, long, and overwhelming...

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Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly Sep 7, 2011 B-

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