Final Destination has always been a franchise that’s just kinda there. It’s always existed and has been on the radar of every horror and gore film fanatic, but it’s never really crossed the boundaries and became anyone’s favorite. Perhaps there’s a good reason for that as the series has never really produced any compelling stories, character arcs that connect with people, or even moments that become genuine standouts. However, Final Destination 5 aimed to change that with the addition of director Steven Quale, someone who previously worked on films such as Aliens of the Deep, and later went on to make films like Into the Storm and Renegades.
How to Download Final Destination 5
You can download the film from a digital store. You can also stream it. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. Check out also the four previous films of the series – Final Destination (2000), Final Destination 2 (2003), Final Destination 3 (2006), and The Final Destination (2009).
The Movie Review
Sam Lawton’s girlfriend Molly Harper cancels their engagement party while he’s busy in attending his brother’s wedding. He has a job offer in Paris that he is debating. Peter Friedkin, his friend/boss is attempting to conceal a relationship with intern Candice Hooper. Olivia Castle is just a really rude random person. Talkative womanizer Isaac Palmer is also quite a character. Roy, the union representative, is pushing Nathan, and Dennis is the boss.
This is a group of variable personalities with nothing much of connection, however, one day when they are all traveling to a retreat for creating business teams in a bus. The majority of them die as a bridge collapses completely and takes them all with it. Fortunately, Sam is able to save 8 members of the group when it turns out to just be a premonition. Death, however, has a variety of plans for the eight survivors as they have managed to cheat it.
The plot of Final Destination 5 is really set up for success. With a considerably darker tone and no forced convoluted plots, it feels much more like the first Final Destination than any of the sequels. In all honesty, the second and third movies were merely passable but they lacked the ‘scary’ element that the first one had. The terror element is really revived in this fifth installment, which makes it one of the best sequels to the franchise overall.
The Characters
Unexpectedly, the characters are somewhat believable too. I mean, we’re not looking for Shakespearean depictions of love, loss, and emotions, but Final Destination 5 definitely increases the quality by a huge margin in terms of character writing.
There are still the corny archetypical characters such as the gratuitous hot girls and flirty playboys, but these characters never come off as too forced or contrived by any means. The actors also do a good job in general of keeping the film grounded in its thematic tone, especially Nicholas D’Agosto as Sam Lawton and Emma Bell as Molly Harper who do have the most amount of screen time here.
The Visuals
If you’re not watching this film in 3D, you’re not going to be missing out on anything at all. In fact, it’s convincing enough to avoid looking completely factory-made, but the effects aren’t overpoweringly convincing, so they don’t manage to drown out the rest of the story through the sheer shock of Death’s glory kills.
You can argue that these films are mainly about the death sequences, but most of the time it’s always about the build-up to these scenes. You can take any sequence from this film, and there will always remain this sense of understanding of how Death is creating a scenario to kill its victim. It shows how it lays traps, and the groundwork for a gruesome takedown. Final Destination 5 wonderfully captures this feeling of “observing” the way Death hunts its prey for the audience.
Sound & Music
The music is lackluster though, there are no two ways about that. Not only is the music bland in the film, but it’s also been genuinely bland throughout the series in all honesty. You can’t say much about it because it always vanishes into the background and barely ever adds to anything aside from the starting sequence with the bridge collapsing.
The Verdict
The new director’s creative vision definitely carries Final Destination 5 through the CGI, incredibly imaginative kills, and high-quality suspense. The writing might be a bit off-putting, but the visuals and acting in this film are admirable at least. A very spectacular sequence opens this film, and a lackluster one ends it. However, this film was enjoyable at least which is way more than you can say for others in this franchise.
Overall, there’s more to love than there is to dislike. Fans of the franchise should definitely check it out as this is by far the best-executed sequel in the Final Destination series.
