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adamwatchesmovies · 2 years

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Final Destination 5 (2011)

Final Destination 3 was bad. The Final Destination a.k.a. Final Destination 4 was worse. Surprisingly, the series manages to recover with this fifth chapter. Final Destination 5 contains suspense, gruesome deaths that will make you wince, some unexpected turns, and characters you can feel ok about getting attached to.

Sam Lawton (Nicholas D’Agosto) is on his way to a company retreat when he has a vision. He manages to prevent the death of several people but a series of accidents hint that they were meant to die. As a mysterious coroner (played by Tony Todd) warns them “Death doesn’t like to be cheated”.

At this point in the franchise, you know who's headed for the grave right away. You're checking in to figure out how. Final Destination 5 excels at finding interesting demises for its characters. There is one scene in particular at a gymnastics practice that will have you on the edge of your seat. Little pieces are set up around the room and you don’t know how they fit in the big picture. Something as simple as a screw falling on the group and landing point up or the potential for some laser-eye surgery gone wrong makes for many scenes too nerve-frying to watch but too enticing to miss.

Starting with the third film, there’s been a trend to include men and women that are merely there to add to the body count. They’re so unlikeable you can't wait for them accidentally fall inside a lion’s cage. Here, we have a couple of men who are fairly one-dimensional jerks… but they’re done right. I kind of liked P. J. Byrne as Isaac. He’s such a loser, he’s so unlikeable that he's hilarious. I don’t know if it’s the delivery or the fact that both life and death seem to be against the guy but I looked forward to his scenes. The rest of the people catch on fairly quickly to what’s happening (maybe a bit too quick but I won’t complain about that) and from there, you’re excited to see them run around, trying to figure out how they can escape whatever new plan Death has for them.

Final Destination 5 isn't in the same league as the first two. Despite some new twists, the formula is getting a bit old. The ending makes up for this partially, but more could've been done with its theory that if you kill someone, you "trade spots" with them and "steal" their remaining years. It also - and this is going to sound weird - overdoes the gore. I keep going back to one of the most memorable deaths in Final Destination: the one in the shower. No bones were sticking out, no geysers of blood, no ropes of intestines on the floor. It was so much creepier because the people in the universe didn’t think twice about it. Here, when people bite the dust it’s so crazy they instantly know something’s up. When people's skulls are this easily crushed, how could there not be?

With the franchise now at an end, it’s easy to see who the winners are. Final Destination and Final Destination 2 are the best entries, with Final Destination 5 coming comfortably in third. The opening disaster sequence is spectacular. The deaths are memorable. The beheadings, dismemberments, fatal defenestrations, impalings, incinerations, etc. are inventive. There are some nice grounded moments of horror and some dark humor as well. (On Blu-ray, September 18, 2016)

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