Final Destination 5

Plot Synopsis:

While leaving on a bus heading for a work retreat, Sam has a vision of  the bridge their bus is on collapsing. Sam gets his girlfriend Molly and a few select co-workers off the bus, and off the bridge before it collapses. Before too long, Death comes to collect. 

Positives:

This movie brings a new addition to the lore, the idea that killing someone if you’re on Death’s list will allow you to swap places. It introduces something of a moral quandary, which you wouldn’t necessarily expect from this franchise. After being relegated to voice work for the third movie and completely absent from the fourth film, it’s nice to have Tony Todd back. His screen presence had been sorely missed. I remember how mind blowing I thought the twist was back in the day, and it honestly still packs a punch. For over a decade, this was the last in the franchise. Had it remained that way, I think it would have worked as sort of a full circle moment.

Mixed Aspects:

The first thing I want to address is the characters. They’re fine. I don’t think they’re as strong as the characters from the first two movies. But, they’re definitely a step above the characters from the third and fourth movies. But, at the same, where I found at least one character from three and four to kind of rise above the rest of the meat sacks around them. Nobody really stands out to me among the characters in this movie. None of the characters feel like meat sacks, and yet none of them stand out either. The other thing I have mixed feelings about is the effects. It is primarily CGI. It is done a lot better here than it was in three and four. The actual bridge collapse actually holds up pretty well, especially for CGI from 2011. However, there are some points where the CGI can look pretty awkward. 

Negatives:

For the first time in the franchise since the first movie, there’s an FBI investigation going on. And, if I’m being honest, it feels kind of forced here. The only real reason it ends up playing a part is because the agent needs to be there at the end. I don’t know if this is a plot point that didn’t need to be there at all, or if it’s one that just needed a little more time to cook. I just know that I didn’t personally care for it.

Final Thoughts:

This was a solid return to form for this franchise, just by being a sizable step up from the last two movies.

My Rating:

🩸🩸🩸

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