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Visually inventive and gleefully over the top, Luc Besson's The Fifth Element is a fantastic piece of pop sci-fi that never takes itself too seriously.
All Critics (65) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (46) | Rotten (19) | DVD (21)
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. May 9, 2018 | Full Review…
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.
Duane Byrge
The Fifth Element has enough eye-appeal for two good movies. May 10, 2017 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
The Fifth Element has enough eye-appeal for two good movies.
Gene Siskel
In this movie and many like it, the only elements that count are impact, impact, impact and impact. The fifth element is gibberish. 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.
Joe Morgenstern
A hodgepodge of elements that don't comfortably coalesce. Sep 4, 2008
A hodgepodge of elements that don't comfortably coalesce.
Todd McCarthy
Besson's futuristic fable is flawed by a messy narrative which strains to incorporate far too many grotesque and eccentric characters. Jan 26, 2006 | Full Review…
Besson's futuristic fable is flawed by a messy narrative which strains to incorporate far too many grotesque and eccentric characters.
Geoff Andrew
The Fifth Element has to be the most creative visualization since Tim Burton's first Batman in 1989. On top of that, it's a whole lot of fun. Jun 18, 2002 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
The Fifth Element has to be the most creative visualization since Tim Burton's first Batman in 1989. On top of that, it's a whole lot of fun.
Mick LaSalle
The Fifth Element is a bold, bright, loud, rowdy, lush, extravagant science fiction space opera that wears its heart on its garish sleeve. Nov 5, 2018 | Full Review…
The Fifth Element is a bold, bright, loud, rowdy, lush, extravagant science fiction space opera that wears its heart on its garish sleeve.
Ed Travis
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. Nov 2, 2018 | Rating: C- | Full Review…
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.
Zaki Hasan
It fuses slapstick with screwball comedy in brilliant ways, and appreciates the necessity of levity when considering heavy themes. Aug 22, 2018 | Full Review…
It fuses slapstick with screwball comedy in brilliant ways, and appreciates the necessity of levity when considering heavy themes.
Glenn Heath Jr.
Even 20 years on, The Fifth Element hasn't lost very much of its ability to thoroughly confound and dazzle. Aug 19, 2017 | Rating: 4.5/5 | Full Review…
Even 20 years on, The Fifth Element hasn't lost very much of its ability to thoroughly confound and dazzle.
Tim Brayton
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. Nov 17, 2015 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…
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.
Jeff Beck
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 Jul 19, 2014 | Full Review…
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
Joe Leydon
Luc Besson's mesmerizing sci-fi original is visually innovative and an assortment of humor, action and exuberance. The unorthodox soundtrack and advanced vibe caps off a film that's just pure fun and amusement. 4/5
Super Reviewer
There is something amusing about the way it embraces camp but Besson crosses the line into goofy, ridiculous flamboyance with an insufferable Chris Tucker, an over-the-top Gary Oldman overacting insanely and a really preposterous plot that makes impossible any suspension of disbelief.
It's the weirdest, coolest futuristic movie I've ever seen. The story is pretty cool and Gary Oldman is especially cool as the arch-villain. It's rare to find a sci-fi movie like this anymore. Bruce Willis is of course the go-to action king of films.
Subtlety is most definitely not the order of the day in Luc Besson's high camp space opera, and it's scattershot approach does mean there are a few things about it I don't appreciate. The soundtrack is occasionally horrendous, Jean Paul Gaultier's insistence (as usual) on dressing half the male cast up as the off Broadway chapter of the Erasure fan club, and most of all, Chris Tucker who is so irritating it makes my teeth hurt. What makes the film work is it's sense of humour which permeates the entire proceedings and it's breakneck pace that means it never dwells too long on any particular aspect of the story. There are some great action sequences, cool Gilliam-esque production design, and loads of funny moments, mostly supplied by Gary Oldman who steals every scene he is in as a kind of psychotic southern sci fi version of Terry-Thomas. Silly, tongue in cheek and hugely entertaining.
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