“Death doesn’t like to be cheated”
– Bludworth, Final Destination 5
11 years after the release of the original Final Destination film, here we are again with the fifth entry in the franchise. After the underwhelming “The Final Destination” aka Final Destination 4, ‘Death’ still decided to take the 3D route with promises of more tricks up its sleeve. Is it all worth it?
Official film Synopsis:
“In this fifth installment, Death is just as omnipresent as ever, and is unleashed after one man’s premonition saves a group of coworkers from a terrifying suspension bridge collapse. But this group of unsuspecting souls was never supposed to survive, and, in a terrifying race against time, the ill-fated group frantically tries to discover a way to escape Death’s sinister agenda.”
Before anything else, I would like to commend the filmmakers for one of the best opening credits I’ve seen. It was such a pleasure in my eyes; It utilized 3D in a way that it is not annoying: 3D art in its finest. Now onto business. Most of us who have seen any Final Destination film will know the formula: an unfortunate soul will have a vision of a freak accident that will kill many, and he or she tries to save their friends to change their fate (we all know how this turns out). This time, we are introduced to Sam Lawton, who’s on his way on a business retreat along with his co-workers, including his girlfriend Molly (The Walking Dead’s Emma Bell) and his best friend Peter (Miles Fisher).
One of the things that most people look forward to in any Final Destination movie is the huge opening accident, and this entry did not disappoint at all. The film opens with a huge bang with an elaborate bridge collapsing accident that kills a lot of people. With the previous films, we learned to fear planes, tanning beds, riding roller coasters and more. This one is no different. It will make you fear that death is all around you. This one really made me think twice about riding a bridge that is under construction.
I enjoyed the serious yet black comedy feel of the movie; it will have you laughing, cringing or on edge all for the right reasons. I love how they invested a lot of character development into this one as with the first two films. Nicholas D’Agosto did a really good job as the lead of the pack, same with Emma Bell. The other casts’ performance are also very commendable, especially Miles Fisher and David Koechner (Dennis). This group are best yet.
I really appreciated Tony Todd’s reprisal of Bludworth from Final Destination and Final Destination 2; it gave this film the dark feeling that we longed for since the first movie came out.
This time, death got more creative (one of my favorites involved a gymnastics gym set piece and the lasik eye surgery), and I love how the film builds a lot of tension before we see the unfortunate ones die in gruesome and shocking ways. I feel the reason this type of film works is because of the fear of having no control, the fear that you can’t do anything if it’s your time. This entry introduced a new element to death’s design, to balance the thread of life, you can kill someone to take their life (that includes how long that person will live on their lifespan) That gave room to the very intense third act of the film which pretty much became a slasher affair. One complaint that I have with this film is that I was looking forward to a fresher idea, and I must say, even though this film did have a huge ‘twist’ at the end I felt disappointed.
Regarding the 3D technology, this is truly one of the best use of 3D in horror since “My Bloody Valentine”. Steven Quale’s 16 years of working with James Cameron payed off. The 3D felt like art. I never found myself distracted. The presentation is crispy; definitely a big improvement after the disappointment that was Final Destination 4.
Final Opinion:
Final Destination 5 has revived a franchise which has gone downhill since the third. It is a very refreshing summer movie after all the remakes and bad 3D converted films. In the end, I would definitely recommend this film to Final Destination fans and to first timers as well. It’s definitely worth a look if you want a fun ride full of suspense this summer.
(8.5 / 10)
Great
(8.5 / 10)
