So, apparently, “The Final Destination” wasn’t THE FINAL “Final Destination” movie after all. Someday, Hollywood will just stop throwing things like “the final chapter” etc. into titles. We know better. As it is, “Final Destination 5” is the continuing adventures of Death as he (or she?) seeks to claim those who try and cheat death. The first was modern day classic– yeah I said that– it’s not perfect but it was a fun twist on a genre that has become overly redundant. Unfortunately this series has now also become overly redundant as well.
In “Final Destination 5”, we meet Sam Lawton. You may know him as Jan’s assistant Hunter on “The Office”. Sam is our prophet in this go-round. On a company retreat the bus Sam, his girlfriend, friends and co-workers are riding on gets stuck on the North Bay Bridge where there is a considerable amount of construction taking place. Something goes wrong and the bridge collapses killing everyone but Sam and his woman– but wait, it was just a dream. It wasn’t real.
Just kidding, it follows the pattern of the other movies and Sam gets a few people to safety before the bridge collapses for real. Now everyone is freaked out, just like every other movie. They start blaming each other etc. as they start dying one by one. Bludworth (Tony Todd) shows up as usual to explain death’s design, etc and how they each blah-blah-blah need to do something to trick death again. This time he says they have to kill someone to pull themselves out of death’s path.
While “Final Destination 5” is better than the previous two installments, it still suffers from a severe case of crappy acting syndrome, led by Nicholas D’Agosto. The deaths are kind of entertaining but a little too over-the-top unrealistic, such as the gymnast who falls of the uneven bars and snaps in half and the girl who falls through a window at the eye doctor. It’s all a little too convenient and makes you think if they’re gonna get killed off that easy the world is probably a better place.
There is a sweet little plot twist at the end that will make you wonder whether or not the previous movie really was “The FINAL Destination”. In fact, the twist nearly is able to make up for the horrendous acting and plot elements you have to sit through to get to it.
“Final Destination 5” is exactly what you expect it to be if you’re looking for some cheap death scenes and a ton of gore. There is no acting to be found and the plot is pretty thin but it does manage to improve upon the last two movies, which were borderline awful.
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Final Destination 5 trailer
Photo and trailer are property of New Line Cinema