Final Destinaton 5

I think I was one of the few people who absolutely hated the third entry in New Line Cinema's wildly popular 'Final Destination' franchise. In fact, that's where the series started its downhill spiral in my opinion. 'The Final Destination' was slammed by critics and is considered the weakest of the franchise in most eyes. Though it was an awful attempt at film making, 'The Final Destination' managed to keep my interest a majority of its runtime while its predecessor put me to sleep in the first thirty minutes.

In any case, when it was announced that a fifth 'Final Destination flick was in the works, I was about as excited as a grizzly bear on a hot, summer day. Even worse was the fact that it would be shot in 3D and we all know how well that worked with the fourth franchise film. Long story short, it was an utter disaster. As you can likely tell, all my hope to ever see another decent 'Final Destination' movie in theaters had been lost a long time ago.

Over the past couple of months, I've seen more than 20 videos related to 'Final Destination 5' from trailers to TV spots to clips and I still wasn't sold. Don't get me wrong, the clips didn't suck but neither did the videos for 'The Final Destination' that I watched prior to its release. My mind was all but made up in that I would wait to see 'Final Destination 5' until it arrived on DVD. Then, a tiny bit of information changed my mind.

I was browsing over an interview a website conducted with franchise producer Craig Perry and he mentioned some of the new twists that would come into play in the fifth movie. I was absolutely speechless. One twist, which I'm sure most of you saw in the trailer, is the idea that a person suppose to die could beat death by committing murder. Long story short, if a person is suppose to die and they kill another person, that person takes their place therefore they get to live out the remaining time left on that person's life. Trust me, that new wrinkle plays out far better in the film.

The character development in 'Final Destination 5' is rather strange. Instead of letting the story introduce the characters as it unfolds, they're all introduced at the beginning of the movie. The primary reason for this type of introduction is to use the remaining runtime for the bizarre death sequences and trust me when I say, they are extremely over-the-top. Nevertheless, over-the-top isn't always bad, particularly if the execution is done properly.

Writing a review for any 'Final Destination' movie is a tricky task as it's hard to say anything without spoiling an aspect of the film. As much as I wish I could share more details with you, I'm afraid I'm going to have to keep my mouth shut this time. I will say that 'Final Destination 5' is an obvious improvement over the previous two franchise entries. Is it better than the original? Not by a long shot. Does it do the original justice? You bet ya. 'Final Destination 5' is a brutal thrill-ride that keeps the twists coming until the screen goes black. It's one of the must see horror films of the years!