Death Has Claimed Its Glory (For Now)

The ever present Death makes a return in Final Destination 5, the 5^th installment and the 2^nd movie to be shot in 3D in the Final Destination franchise. This time, it stalks the survivors of a bridge collapsing accident and it never rests until it claims the souls of those who were meant to die on the bridge.

On his way to a business retreat together with his co-workers, Sam Lawton (Nicholas D’Agosto, TV's Heroes) had a vision of a bridge collapse. When he snaps out of the premonition, he warns his co-workers about the impending disaster and they all flee to safety, sparing their lives from the accident. A few days later, the survivors started to die one by one and Sam realizes that death is coming for them. He teams up with Molly Harper (Emma Bell, Frozen, TV's The Walking Dead), his girlfriend to try to stop the gruesome deaths before their turns are up.

After The Final Destination sucked the life out of the franchise, Final Destination 5 comes along and surprises the fans and critics. The bridge collapsing sequence features the excellent use of special effects and the movie itself is a genuine showcase of the innovative 3D technology in horror. The opening sequence is also one of the most terrifying, gruesome, and action-packed visions in the whole series besides the Highway 23 pile-up in Final Destination 2. One of the returning elements in this movie is the suspenseful atmosphere. In almost every death scenes, you never know which thing will kill a character. The death sequences give a false lead about how a character dies and right when you don’t expect the moment, the character gets it. So far, the deaths here are the most inventive, suspenseful, and gruesome in the series. There are also a few moments in the movie that you will NEVER see coming. The movie also tries to break the repetition of the series and does it successfully with its new rule.

Another is the character development. Though the development is weak, the characters have managed to be rooted for by the audience and as the audience witness their deaths, they can’t help but feel bad for some of those they know will die at any moment. Tony Todd, who plays the mysterious mortician William Bludworth, makes an anticipated return in the movie and still, he creeps out the characters and the audience with his sinister voice and cryptic advices. Lastly, Brian Tyler's musical score is also filled with the fear that the whole movie is all about. It is even better than his previous work in The Final Destination. 

Final Destination 5 will make you cringe and laugh. The opening premonition and the finale will make your jaw drop and the whole movie will make you literally hold on to your seat with its suspense and amazing use of 3D. It is, by far, the best movie in the series and I hope the 6^th and the 7^th installments will maintain the dread that this one reclaimed.

RATING: 4/5

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