Final Destination 5 (2011)

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Final Destination Reviews

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Like it is with any franchise, everyone has their favourite 'Final Destination' chapter for their reasons. Speaking for myself, I go with 'FD5' here, although aside from 'FD4,' I appreciate what precedes this, all for their reasons. I found, however, that 'FD5' is the film that manages to take the best of all of them and produce something solid. If nothing else, this ends up being a giant step in a better direction from 'FD4,' which, for me, is easily the bottom of the list for this collection.

The first film brought a new and original idea, which every movie since has copied and pasted with a twist ending, which 'FD5' follows but tweaks the predictability of. The second film's incident is highly relatable, and the kills are less predictable, both of which 'FD5' brings to the next level with the bridge incident and a lot of set-up for fake-outs. Add the likeability of the characters from 'FD3' and, yes, admittedly, some of the now-dated visuals from 'FD4' (which mostly has to do with the 3D aspect), and 'FD5' creates the best of everything.

Much like it has been for a while now, the film does go through the motions just as we've been seeing, so all of the standard fares are hereby represented, which of course, includes the standard chain of events: a premonition, a handful of people dodging said premonition that ultimately comes true, said people getting killed off due to successfully avoiding their "time," and of course, a twist ending, all of which essentially suggest the same essential outcome. So, other than just blending some "best features," what makes this so good?

To start, let's take a look at Sam Lawton (Nicholas D'Agosto), who I find to be an overall likeable character, if maybe a little "lovey-dovey" with his in-the-balance girlfriend, Molly Harper (Emma Bell). Throughout the film, the pair have a side story in which she wants him to pursue an apprentice chef career in France so he can follow his dream, but he's very much in love with her and doesn't want to go. In a general romance movie's case, this is standard. Still, for a 'Final Destination' movie, it makes for a more heartfelt and intimate connection between characters that we haven't seen yet. It adds some heart to the whole thing.

Cutting to the chase, Sam and Molly, along with a group of office co-workers, go on a retreat, and while crossing the North Bay Bridge (Lion's Gate Bridge in Vancouver, Canada, lending towards my Canadian bias), Sam has a premonition that the bridge collapses, killing everyone on board their bus and a massive group of over 80 others crossing the bridge at the time. This scene blended with the film's 3D at the time, and it was a gory feast for the eyes. However, it still manages to be effectively scary without the 3D due to the relatability of the incident's potential to happen in real life, much like with 'FD2.'

Due to Sam's premonition, several survive the incident only to start getting killed off, this time very unpredictably as far as the source of the kills goes, and it's another 'Final Destination' movie, but this time balancing the good material with the cheesy material rather nicely. And again, out of all of the 'Final Destination' movies, this one has my favourite ending by far, even if it is similar to the twist endings that have occurred up until now. 'FD5' puts a cool spin on it, and speaking for myself, I got blindsided the first time watching.

So, for me, the likeability of 'Final Destination 5' comes from a solid combination of things, but what makes it unique are the ending and the overall unpredictability of the kills. Still, I can understand other perspectives that readily claim this as "more of the same" because, in a sense, it is. At this point in the 'Final Destination' game, if you aren't already a fan of these films, you won't get much out of them either way. Luckily, I have fun with them, and 'FD5' is the most fun since 'FD3.'

4/5

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