Final Destination 5: Blu Ray Review
Final Destination 5
Rating: M
Released by Warner Home Video
Fifth time's the charm for the franchise?
When a group of workers head out on a coach on a business retreat,
Sam (Nicholas D'Agosto) has a premonition the vehicle he's on is
going to be pulled off a suspension bridge which will collapse. The
vision's so powerful, Sam persuades seven of his co-workers to get
off and run for their lives.
While the bridge does indeed collapse, the eight of them reckon
they've had a lucky escape...however, when one by one, they're
picked off and die in mysterious ways, it's clear Death's marked
their card and is determined to collect.
Final Destination 5 has some good points and some bad points -
while the bridge collapse scene is spectacularly well done, the
rest of the deaths seem a little forced and it feels like the
writers are starting to feel the strain of inventing new ways to
off a largely unknown cast.
That said, some of the scenes, including one where one poor girl
gets a fatal laser eye treatment, are likely to have you squirming
in your seat and the addition of 3D means a variety of objects
spike out at you on the screen. But the gore is mainly more amusing
than frightening and Quale does a good job of stretching out the
tension so that by the time the final death scene comes round,
you've been waiting for it for a while.
A clever addition to the series, as explained by Death's emissary
Tony Todd, is that if you're marked for death and you kill someone
else, you're given back your life is unexplored for the potential
dramatic tension that it has and is wasted as a great new twist
which would have had some scripting legs. Equally, the ending is
impressive and to discuss that any further would venture into
spoilers territory - but it shows there is some thought gone into
the latest film.
Sadly though, with a relatively bland cast of at times wooden
actors and some frankly average dialogue, any real tension between
the group feels forced and unrealistic, leading you to struggle to
care if they are offed or not by the Grim Reaper.
Ultimately, if you're after a few comic moments, a bit of suspense
and blood splashing onto you courtesy of 3D, then Final Destination
5 will tick your boxes. Everyone else will just hope the franchise
is now finally laid to rest.
Extras: Alternate death scenes, special FX split scene
Rating: 5/10
