Review of Final Destination 5 (2011) by Tim B — 04 May 2012

I avoided this entry for a while simply because I thought the series was played out. Final Destination 1 and 2 both rocked my socks. Part 3 was feasible and Part 4 was deader than Deadites. But I can say that this entry breathed a whole new life into the series for me and put my faith back into its potential.

First off, the characters were likeable here again. I really didn't give a crap about any of the kids in the last two entries so here, it was a fresh breath of dead air. Even when the characters were playing obvious stereotypes, the actors behind them showed enough talent to have me rooting for them.

Emma Bell has the lovely girl role down pat and had me falling in lust once again. Nicholas D'Agosto did what was asked of him. Miles Fisher has an eerie similar look to Christian Bale and milked out his role for all he was worth.

P.J. Byrne, surprisingly, cracked me up with his flamboyant performance while David Koechner also provided some laughs as the paranoid boss. Courtney B. Vance has a small role here as one of the smarter cops to grace a horror flick which is always nice.

Steven Quake breathed some new air into the series while also sticking to the elements we've come to love. The opening bridge bit had me by the balls and the action was executed perfectly. He also knew how to build that tension with all death scenes (of course it helped that I was scared for the characters this round).

There was also a new take on death's "design" that was welcomed by this twat. It didn't overly confuse me while keeping it smart which was a good thing. Add to all this, a darkish vibe without going too morbid (at Part 5 you just can't), get action set pieces, a neat nod to the original flick and enough shock gore for a buffet and you get one fun time.

Here's the bitching. The formula is getting familiar now and the series needs to start throwing more 'whys' in the mix. I could forgive the fact that Part 2 didn't explain it but we're now at Part 5 and there are not this many people in the world who can predict a major accident to a T like that.

GIVE US SOME ANSWERS! IT'S STARTING TO BUG ME! There was also a major plot point with one of the characters toward the end of the flick that didn't sit well with me. Let's just say a pretty bold decision is made and it didn't really make much sense, especially considering the options.

It needed more scoping out for me to fully understand, I guess. Lastly, as per the previous entries, Tony Todd's presence is still trivial. It's really time to either put his reason for being there in or take him out completely.

He's done JACK ALL for these flicks other than provide commentary to what we already knew. But overall, Final Destination 5 put my faith back into a series I thought (for sure) was fading out. It sported what I loved about the series to begin with without insulting it.

This is definitely my favorite after the first 2 and if there's a Part 6, I'm there! A fan? Go see it.