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‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ has a scene that feels borrowed straight out of ‘The Fifth Element’

apocalypse x men
20th Century Fox

Warning: There are spoilers ahead for "X-Men: Apocalypse."

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"X-Men: Apocalypse" is in theaters this weekend and reviews for the film are pretty mixed. One of the things critics, myself included, aren't too crazy about is the titular villain, Apocalypse. He's a pretty generic super villain — he wants to destroy the world — with a myriad of powers it feels like we've seen before. 

If that doesn't sound impressive, it doesn't help that upon one of the first sightings of him, viewers may be reminded of an entirely different film, making Apocalypse feel even more unoriginal and rather uninspired. 

Last chance to head back before spoilers.

x men apocalypse
20th Century Fox

Early in "X-Men: Apocalypse" there's a scene with the film's villain where he's with Storm (Alexandra Shipp) and sees a television on in the background.

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He goes up to the monitor, touches it, and starts absorbing the knowledge of thousands of years of war. Storm asks him what he's doing and he says, "Learning."

If that scene sounds familiar it's because it's eerily similar to a scene from 1997's "The Fifth Element" in which Leeloo, one of the main characters in the film, learns about the world's wars by scanning the internet.

Take a look:

Of course, the results of the two viewing experiences are drastically different. Leeloo is traumatized by what she sees, while Apocalypse just decides he needs to do away with mankind. Still, the way the two come to their separate conclusions is essentially through the same means, just a different medium.

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The reason I mention this is because if you have a television, chances are you've seen "The Fifth Element." The movie can frequently be found playing on cable television — in fact, it will be playing on TV several times throughout Memorial Day Weekend on the SyFy channel. And if you've ever seen the film, it's difficult not think of "The Fifth Element" during this scene in "Apocalypse."

Though Apocalypse learns about past events slightly differently than Leeloo, it felt pretty lazy for the movie's writers to essentially duplicate a scene from a beloved film that most people would recognize.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I guess.

"X-Men: Apocalypse" is currently in theaters.

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