Final Destination 5 3D – Review

Who dies getting a massage? Seriously!

Death can come at any time, without rhyme or reason, as we’ve seen in a thousand horror movies, and painfully in real life, but that’s what made Final Destination so special nearly a decade ago. It cleverly pointed at this aspect, with wit and fun. In typical Hollywood fashion, wit and cleverness were excused for simpler thrills and chills, which for this series, pretty much lead to a sketch comedy version of a horror movies. We all thought Death finally came for the franchise in the spectacularly awful The Final Destination 3D, but the popular franchise cheated death once more, for a remixed version of what we’ve seen before in four prior sequels, but remixed for high energy and fun.

While Final Destination 5 doesn’t bring the series back to its original form, it’s probably the most fun this series has had since Final Destination 2. Right from the opening title sequence, there’s a creative spark seen here that was missing from the last entry. Brian Tyler’s kick-ass score helps. Much like the Friday the 13th sequels, something bigger and better in the kill department has to happen, and just right when this series was petering out, the bridge collapse sequence in FD5 restores that silly sense of blood-crazed fun, once lost after the interstate pile-up in FD2. So once the premonition has been received, of course the series follows the predicable pattern for the cast to figure out Death’s Plan and how to stay alive.

Even with Tony Todd back as the coroner with the knowledge of Death, the film remixes the franchise premise slightly, well enough to be consistent with the film’s high energy, than spills out into a twist ending that should please, and possibly wrap this franchise up in a neat bow for Death. For this franchise’s second 3D outing, FD5 in 3D is a blast. Guts, blood, glasses, and other objects immerse you into the experience. Minus some thinly written moments and a quick kill or two that hastily happens to speed the story up, Final Destination 5 is far better than any fifth film in a long running franchise should, while not losing what made the franchise popular in the first place.

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