If you’re hoping that Final Destination 5 will be the sweet icing on top of a rather tired franchise, except to leave the cinema feeling just as cheated as death did.
The latest killer instalment is delivered by small-time director Steven Quale and follows a group of young employees who narrowly escape their intended deaths, while travelling to a business retreat. The ‘lucky eight’ survive a crumbling highway suspension bridge thanks to premonition-prone protagonist Sam (Nick D’Agosto) who warns his colleagues that their company coach will go down in the disaster. While the vision spares his friends from the goriest of gut-wrenching deaths, in true Final Destination fashion, the survivors soon enough become the victims.
As the elusive figure of death proceeds to take lives on a sinister schedule, the now (not so) ‘lucky eight’ use their remaining hours to hatch a deadly plan to break the pattern, and stop the villainous nature of death taking them in the order that was intended.
What was once presented as a refreshingly original concept for a horror film back in 2000 is undoubtedly losing its creative novelty as we enter into the fifth chapter. With a virtually unrecognisable cast and their shameless 2-dimesional acting ability, audience members are expected to accept the limited plot development and overlook the poor state of the prequel based solely on the strength of the franchise as a whole.
While writer Eric Heisserer must be commended for his ability to create even more bizarre ways for people to die the most un-natural
deaths, Final Destination 5 still struggles to establish itself as a stand-alone film away from the franchise. It feels a bit like watching a good movie for the 20th time- all the fun has gone, but the familiarity is comforting.
Final Destination 5 desperately tries to recapture the creative premise surrounding the first few films but Quale falls short of breathing new life into a tired franchise, by choosing rather to cover up all the tiny imperfections through the distraction of 3-D.
I’ve mentioned all that was wrong with the fifth instalment but it’s also worth noting that this use of 3-D is what throws the dying franchise its only life-line. A 2011 audience, who have been showered with an overwhelming number of 3D film releases this year, may be able to strip a movie like this off its narrative flaws and appreciate it for its astounding use of special effects, which truly can’t be faulted.
From the opening bridge scene to the rolling credits, and all the demented death scenes in between, Final Destination is one of very few films which is absolutely necessary in 3-D. There’s not a moment during the 92 minutes when something is flying towards you or splattering onto you, and this works well to keep viewers included into a distracting plot.
The 3-D effects keep tensions high and build anticipation in exactly the right places, to help amplify those squeamish, look-away moments which have helped make the Final Destination series into one of the most recognisable scary-movie franchises in the last decade.
