FINAL DESTINATION 5 3D REVIEW

  I was going to put a spoiler alert with this review, but I think you know how the story goes by now. It is probably why some people won't be watching it. Like Saw, some people have gotten tired of seeing this franchise use the same formula over and over, and gave up on it a couple of sequels ago. Unlike others, I have taken the franchise for what it is, and have enjoyed them. There aren’t too many movies out there where the audience gets to see the characters die in two different ways. So did I finally get tired of more of the same, or is it enjoyable one last time?

  Sam (Nicholas D’Agosto), Molly (Emma Bell), Peter (Miles Fisher), and several others get on a bus to go on a company retreat. The bus travels onto a large bridge that is currently under construction. Sitting alone in his seat, Sam looks out of the window, and watches the construction take place. Then he has a terrible vision of the bridge collapsing killing his friends, and himself in the process. Because of the vision, Sam and some of his friends are lucky enough to survive the bridge actually collapsing. Unfortunately for them, this does not go over well with Death.

  The movie wastes little time in reminding the audience that it is in 3D. The entire opening credits are a series of glass getting shattered by different objects. Of course, the glass and all of these objects are coming right off the screen, which is pretty cool. It beats most of the boring opening credits in other movies. However, I don’t think I read many of the credits, but who really does anyway?

  The highlight of all the Final Destination movies is always the tragedy that happens early on. This time it is a collapsing bridge, and the scene doesn’t disappoint. There is a good combination of bloody, and painful deaths with a little 3D thrown in. It will make you think twice about crossing a bridge that is under construction, and is definitely a recipe for disaster. Not taking away from the other deaths in the scene, but my favorite death in that scene is the first one (ouch).

  Sam, Molly, Peter, and some of the other’s escape from Death are only short lived. Bludworth (Tony Todd), the local coroner, warns them that Death will still want the lives that it is now missing because they cheated Death. It is always good to see Tony, even though he plays a small role, because it brings back memories of Candyman! Also, he is the only one who could actually act worth a damn in this movie. The Final Destination franchise has never been one for top-notch acting, and this movie is no different. They always try to put the actors in dramatic moments only to have them fail. They should stick to being scared, and dying. Did anyone else think Miles is trying to give his best Tom Cruise impersonation?

  All right, back to the meat of this movie. The first few deaths are really creative, and do a great job of building tension. Following the order of deaths from Sam’s vision, Peter’s girlfriend, Candice (Ellen Wroe), is the first to die. As far as tension in the movie, this scene stood out all because of one little screw. She is a gymnast, who is practicing one of her routines on the balance beam, when a screw happens to fall, and lands perfectly on the beam (only Death could stick that landing). She continues her routine dancing all around the screw. The audience was on the edge of their seats, as if they were about to step on that screw. I will leave it up to you to see how the scene ends, but it gets my approval.

  While there are some characters that you might not want to see die, there are others that you just can’t feel sorry for. That is the case with one of the more unusual characters, Isaac (P.J. Byrne). He is a nerdy looking guy, who can’t help but hit on any woman that crosses his path. He finds himself at an oriental spa, where he is on a table expecting to get a massage from a beautiful oriental woman. Instead, he gets one from an older woman in what becomes one of the funnier scenes of the movie. It is all fun and games until he is left alone in the room, and Death becomes his masseuse. There is plenty of blood, and even a nice blood splattering 3D ending.

  As the movie moves on, the survivors learn that they could kill someone to replace their death, and gain that person’s years of life. It is a little added piece to the Final Destination formula, which gives the plot a little life, but takes something away from the deaths. It becomes a fight between the last few survivors, and gets away from the accidental looking deaths. There is still some tension, but having them try to kill each other isn’t the creativity seen in some of the previous death scenes. They really blow an opportunity to do something interesting in the restaurant’s kitchen.

  The end of this movie is full of surprises. For true fans of the franchise, the ending might bring a smile to your face. As usual, it took me a second to figure it out, but they make it pretty clear what is happening. They do an excellent job of popping this up out of nowhere, and letting Death finish its job. And when the movie ends, there is an awesome montage of all the deaths in the previous movies. Again, bringing smiles to fan’s faces, but it kind of makes me think this could mark the end of the franchise. 

  3D kicked some life back into the franchise in the fourth movie, ultimately leading to this fifth movie. They do a really good job of using traditional 3D action to put the audience right in the middle of the deaths. There is plenty of blood and tension with some pretty creative deaths early on. As expected, there isn’t award-winning acting, but there is a surprise ending to the movie, and maybe the franchise. Overall, anyone who has stuck with the franchise this long should enjoy this movie, so I give it 3 pools of blood.

  HorrO