PLOT:
People cheat death after one of them has a premonition. Death comes come after them and he is angrier than ever!
REVIEW:
Here are with a fifth installment in the long lasting Final Destination franchise. I honestly never thought this would become a franchise, but you know what they say: Money talks and bullshit walks…or something like that, but what the fuck do I know, eh? I saw the first Final Destination when it first hit DVD, so I was about ten or eleven. It freaked me out and scared me shitless, especially that plane premonition. I used to take a plane every summer to visit family in Florida, so seeing something like that scared the shit out of me. The first film was a brutal scary fun time that had some wit along with its smarts. Along with that it also had a great cast of likable and developed characters. So I was surprised when I saw Final Destination 2 and it was very different in tone. While the first was scary, witty with little humor and little gore, but high on suspense and character development (okay, not so high on this, but they were developed enough), FD2 took a totally different route and focused mainly on the gore and the humor. It was a great sequel with major balls and some AMAZING gore. What the film lacks in humor it more than makes up in the death scenes. Then FD3 came along, which was a mediocre ride…and the less said about FD4, the better! So here we are now with FD5, and I honestly had very low expectations…BUT fuck me man! This film rocked. This and Scream 4 are hands down my biggest surprises of the year.
The first thing that FD5 did right was going back to the basics, and by that I mean bringing back the tone of the first film. That creepy atmosphere that oozed from every frame of the original is back and it made for one thrilling experience. This film still had some funny moments or hilarious characters, but it wasn’t to the point where it overshadowed the horror. Here, it complimented the horror proceedings VERY well. Not since the original film has a FD film had me so on the edge of my seat. Many of the death scenes had my heart pounding in anticipation of what can happen. It surely helped I went in knowing about NONE of the death scenes, so I never knew when someone would bite it. I love when a trailer doesn’t spoil every death scene, like the one for FD4 did!
What I loved about this sequel is how it combined the best parts of FD1 and FD2 meaning the scares, humor and gore! The first film was scary as fuck, while the second one was funny and gory! This film was high on the gore and has some of the BEST death scenes of the franchise. That gymnastics scene is one that needs to be seen to be believed. Holy shit! This film did everything right: I jumped, I laughed, and I was scared! This is what a FD film is supposed to do! I couldn’t say this was a good review unless I talk about the opening disaster that these films are known for...and holy shit, this one was PERFECTLY done! For me the best were the plane and the car pile-up in the second one, which were tied. The car pile-up was fuckin’ awesome, and the plane explosion just scared the fuck out of me, but in my useless opinion, I think this suspension bridge collapse just beat them both. It was like the entire film: gory, suspenseful, scary, and wickedly demented! One thing I loved is the return of Tony Todd, who was very missed by me in the last two sequels. But something that I haven’t seen anyone mention is the return of Death’s presence! It’s back! In the first film every once in a while you’d see a black shadow that represented Death but it was nowhere to be found in the sequels. It was very nice to see it return in FD5.
Another ace up this one’s sleeve is the talent behind and in front of the camera. The script was intelligent and the directing was fantastic. Like the original film, every scene dripped with suspense and dread, and Quale had a firm handle on the comedy as well. What truly surprised me is how much I liked the characters! In 3 and 4, I didn’t care for anyone (except for Wendy in FD3; I dug her), so I couldn’t wait to die…but in FD1 and FD2 there were many characters I grew to care about and I was sad to see them go, but they went VERY nicely. The characters in this film were likable and actually each had a personality. I found myself caring about a few of them: Sam, Molly, Peter, Nathan, and Olivia were my favorites. Even the characters that were supposed to be “assholes” or “annoying” I grew somewhat fond of; why? Because they were fuckin’ HILARIOUS! Koechner and Byrne had me in stitches throughout the movie! The whole cast was tops. Nicholas D'Agosto was cute and likable as the man with the premonition, while Emma Bell (who is now a favorite of mine) was her usual adorable self. No matter what she does, she just seems genuinely sweet. I love that vibe she always gives off! It also helped that her character, Molly, was very developed as well. Arlen Escarpeta, who I found annoying in the Friday the 13th remake, was quite likable in this film as Nathan. I was surprised; he has talent! But my other favorites would be Miles Fisher as Peter and Jacqueline MacInnes Wood as Olivia. Fisher was very likable and gave a pretty good performance and I actually felt for his character and Wood was just plain sexy and funny. That was all she needed. Courtney B. Vance also showed up as Agent Block, the cop on the case, and unlike most films his subplot actually WENT somewhere and Vance did very well in the roll.
What truly helped let this sequel stand out is the fact it actually HAD a script unlike the last two. This film brought in some new twists and brought up some ideas that will have people thinking, like can you take an innocent life to save your own? I relished in some of these themes that were brought up.
I’ve been gushing over this film, but there were some flaws. My biggest flaw would honestly be…why are these people having premonitions? I’ve been wondering since the first film about this and have been hoping it’d be explained in a sequel…someday, but I’m still waiting. In FD6, I hope they finally explain that! Is Death just fuckin’ with these people because he/she is bored or something, or is God in the mix as well? This is something I want to know about. Also, what is the deal with Tony Todd’s character? He is a great actor and I love his ominous character but I wish they’d explain him too; is he supposed to be Death himself, or maybe he is God trying to help them? Who knows! Finally they didn’t go far enough with one of the subplots that involved a man losing his mind and they could have went farther with the kill-or-be-killed angle. I loved what they did, but they honestly could have done more.
In the end though, FD5 was badass! It was scary, funny, and gory with some likable characters. It was everything I was hoping for, and I honestly think this one is equal to the original film. The film had many great nods to the previous entries and even had a badass ending (that I kind of saw coming honestly) but it still ruined me in a good way! If you want a fun gory time at the movies, then Final Destination 5 is for you!
Verdict: 8/10
