Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

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Final Destination Reviews

When it comes right down to the overall criticism of the 'Final Destination' franchise, it seems that since 'Bloodlines' came along, it has quickly become the fan favourite of the series, boasting very "fresh" reviews on "Rotten Tomatoes," and even without that, some incredible word of mouth. Now, I don't want to take anyone's opinions about this film and try to change anyone's minds, but for me, it didn't give me the same effect 'FD5' did. With that said, however, 'Bloodlines' here comes in as a very close second.

The series gave itself time to breathe, think, and develop something at least slightly different than we've seen before. After 13+ years, assuming they were all finished with the series with nothing much left to say, the wait paid off. It astounds me that this idea wasn't thought of yet for the series, adding to the mythos and expanding on death's "rules." Although we do get some more of the same, conceptually, 'Bloodlines' managed to open this concept up in a way that makes perfect sense, all while staying true to fans of the series by having some gruesome kills while, shall we say, "having fun" with it.

The incident in this chapter is meant to occur in 1969 when Iris (Brec Bassinger) and her fiancé-to-be, Paul (Max Lloyd-Jones), attend the grand opening of the Skyview Restaurant Tower. Things play out fairly typically as Iris eventually has a premonition of the tower exploding and falling, leading to the deaths of several people, including one particular death you WILL want to stand up and cheer for - you'll know it when it happens. This time around, however, unlike all five events preceding this film, Iris manages to stop the event and save everyone there, and in turn, death starts hunting down those survivors one by one.

Fast-forward to the present day, we are introduced to Stefani Reyes (Kaitlyn Santa Juana), who suffers from nightmares related to the Skyview Tower event, recognizing "Iris" as her grandmother's name. Believing there's a connection, and with the risk of her nightmares interfering with her college education, she heads back home, looking for answers. Once home and unveiling her nightmares about the Skyview Tower and Iris, assumed to be her grandmother, with a lot of reluctance from the rest of her family, she gets some answers. From here, I may enter spoiler territory, so proceed with caution if you don't want to know too much.

As Stefanie seeks out Grandma Iris (Gabrielle Rose), she also learns that her now estranged mother, Darlene (Rya Kihlstedt) and her uncle Howard (Alex Zahara) were subjects of a rough, overprotective upbringing, with Iris coddling them at every turn. Iris, of course, had the premonition years ago, saving hundreds of lives, but ever since then, she knew death was coming for her, as it started picking off everyone who dodged the tower incident. As Iris is the final survivor, the rule is that once she goes, it comes after the rest of her bloodline, who were never meant to be born, hence the film's title.

So, this time around, for once, the group death is after is attached to a family not meant to die but never meant to be born in the first place. Focusing on a family instead of a group of people like students or office workers, in my opinion, makes the deaths that occur all that much more tragic, as no one involved is any stranger. I have to credit the movie for coming up with something that's all too similar to the films that precede it, but change it up so that while watching, I can't help but ask, "How have they not done this idea yet?"

After all that praise, however, I have to say that there are some pretty silly moments that, while I'm no expert, I can't believe are remotely possible, even if they do make for an awesome kill for your average gore hound. I strongly praise the film for doing some new things with the subject matter, and the late Tony Todd's cameo is a chef's kiss of an appearance, but I'm still more of an 'FD5' guy, if only on a personal level. However, it's easy to say that 'Bloodlines' is on the other side of the coin regarding quality.

4/5

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