Review of Final Destination 5 (2011) by Sinistervortex — 10 Feb 2012

FD5 shows hope for the series. As the first four installments progressed, the series seemed to be getting dumber and dumber as it went on. Firstly, I really liked the bridge collapse of the opening scene.

Very intense, very dramatic (though not very realistic; there should have been a huge amount of wind that made the bridge oscillate for a few minutes. Instead, we see a small gust and then nothing). Secondly, I like the idea of the twist that if you take a life, you get to live the years that person would have lived.

It's a fresh new take on a concept that was really getting stale after the first four movies. However, there seem to be just as many things to complain about as there are to commend. Firstly, the movie continues the not-so-time-honored tradition of using gore just for the sake of showing it.

Instead of calculating its usage more so that it has a better impact every time it is shown, the movie just tosses blood all over the place most of the time, and some deaths seem almost as stupid as those in The Final Destination (don't even get me started on that movie!), for example the death scenes in the gym and the spa, which seemed so ridiculous that I wondered if the movie was making some strange attempt at humor.

Secondly and lastly, the movie seemed to go by really fast. Maybe this is just me, but it seemed like the movie had less in it in general then previous installments have. Maybe I just lost track of time or something, but when the movie ended I didn't feel as though I'd just sat through a feature length flick.

Overall, I can say FD5 is better then previous installments, and appears to be a hopeful restart to a series in need of rejuvenating. Though some of the death scenes are just stupid, the opening bridge scene and the intriguing murder twist make this movie one that is definitely worth seeing if you're an FD fan (otherwise maybe not so much).