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Alongside the elements of earth, wind, fire, and water - the one the pop group forgot - there is a fifth element, embodied within a young woman (Milla Jovovich). And it's a good thing too because it and she are the key to preventing the end of the universe.
So she's the fifth element, she's the sum total of our hope for survival, but she's way down the cast list and she can't get around town without Bruce Willis. It's no surprise that Luc Besson thought this story up when he was a teenager: it's core is the teen film cliché of a rough hero, which the teen wants to be, having unattainable women fall into his arms.
You have to fight to ignore this but fortunately there is much to distract you. The visuals are jaw-dropping, especially an unexpectedly gigantic spaceship hovering over a desert and some stunning sequences in a future New York.
It's also very funny in parts with Chris Tucker along for (perhaps a little too much) comic relief and paradise sequences that are camp and witty.
Bruce Willis is good in an average role, Milla Jovovich is acceptable in a terrible role, but as ever Gary Oldman is terrific in how he seems to find just the right note for the film and threatens to take it over.
Ultimately you'll delight in the ride, but you won't care too much about the outcome. If the end of the universe can be stopped by tough guy Bruce Willis, it just doesn't seem like much of a problem anymore.
