[pullquote cite=”” type=”left, right”][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=That Film Guy&asin=B0050GLO2W][/pullquote] The original Final Destination was released in 2000 and proved to be a popular low-budget horror centered around the premise that a group of people escape a catastrophe after one has a premonition, so death starts claiming their lives in elaborate and ridiculous ways. The success of the first has led to a succession of sequels that rarely if ever deviate from this premise. The fifth installment doesn’t break the mould either, as the last two have been shot in 3D as well.
Sam Lawton (Nicholas D’Agosto) is on his way to a team-building retreat with colleagues when he has a premonition that the bridge his coach is stuck on will collapse. Realising everything is happening exactly as predicted, he leads a small group off the bus, only for each of them to die in unusual circumstances as death stalks them in turn.
I feel it necessary with a film like Final Destination 5 to start with positives. The 3D is used well, which is rare in films today. It goes for the very obvious ‘things being pointed at the camera’, which works nicely in such an obviously low-budget film. Some of the death scenes are quite amusingly grotesque, which is what the franchise has been known for, so they deliver well there. Finally Tony Todd cameos, and it’s always nice to see him on the big screen. That’s about it for the positives.
The main problem with the Final Destination 5 is that we’ve seen it all before. Four times before in fact. There’s nothing original about it whatsoever and you can’t help but see the dollar signs in the eyes of the producers of the film. Little is spent on actors who can deliver lines convincingly. In fact everyone involved in the acting (other than Tony Todd) is abysmal. The dialogue is stilted, the plot predictable and even the death scenes become dull and repetitive.
August is an odd time to release the film too, with October and the great Halloween cash-in period seeming the more obvious choice. Regardless of this, some terrible acting, boring regurgitated plot and an overall low-quality of film-making consign Final Destination 5 to the ‘movie rejects’ bin.
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