Final Destination 5 – 5th of five Final Destination Reviews

Hello guys, it is time for the final Final Destination Review. Final Destination 5 was the first Final Destination movie I ever watched and I missed a lot because of that. I have watched it a few times since and I don’t get tired of it. In fact this was the Final Destination movie I was looking most forward to write about. The third and fourth Final Destination movies were not that good, but that becomes water under the bridge when you watch Final Destination 5.

The story – Final Destination 5

Like in all of the other Final Destination movies, the main character of Final Destination 5 gets a vision. The main character, Sam, is sitting on a bus with his co-workers on his way to a business retreat. Right before they are about to drive over a bridge Sam gets a vision that this bridge will collapse. When he gets back to reality he notices all the small details from the vision and he is convinced it will happen. At this time they are on the bridge. Sam grabs his ex girlfriend and tells the other co-workers that the bridge will collapse. Some go after him to get him back on the bus but then the bridge starts to collapse. They run and 8 of the co-workers, including Sam, survives. Death starts on the new design.

What I really like about the story

The story reminds me a lot of the first two Final Destination movies. The director of Final Destination 5, Steven Quale, has not directed any of the previews Final Destination movies. However, you can feel he has done his homework. The first few minutes of Final Destination 5 there are hints to some of the deaths in the previous movies. I had fun sitting on my couch remembering who died of what.

Another thing that is nice, is that during the vision it is easy to see who dies when, and then you already know the order of the deaths. Something happens during the vision that hasn’t happened in any of the other movies. One of the co-workers is meant to survive. It might seem weird to begin with. It makes sense later in the movie though, because a new rule is added to Death’s design. If someone were to take a survivor’s place in death that survivor will tak their place in life. This means that if one of the characters that were meant to die kills someone, they will take that someone’s place in life and live as long as they would. I like that idea since it adds a dilemma. Can you kill another human if it means you get to live?

*Can you kill another human if it means you get to live?*

The acting

The acting reminds me a lot of the acting in the first two movies. It is good and you believe in their emotions. Especially the actor, Miles Fisher, who plays the part of the character named Peter does a good job. He goes from being a witty, happy, young man to being full of grief and regret. I also care for the characters like I did in the first two movies. Some of the characters, like Isaac, I find annoying while I have sympathy for other characters, like Sam.

The camera

With the camera work in Final Destination 5, it feels like we are back in the first two movies. Object-zooming is happening a lot again also on lesser important objects. The death scenes, especially the three first after the accident, have very good camera work. It is not easy to predict how the characters will die because the camera focuses on so many different objects. Throughout the movie you can also see hints to flight 180 because of the camera angles.

The sound and lighting

The background sounds and the music during the movie are good. The music might make you feel a bit uneasy the first time you watch it. It doesn’t happen to me anymore though, and I think that is beacause Final Destination 5 doesn’t have the Final Destination melody that is present in the first three movies. It annoys me a little bit since it seems like Steven Quale did his research before directing Final Destination 5. The music is still good though but without the eerie feeling that something bad will happen.

The lighting is better than in Final Destination 3 and Final Destination 4. This is due to Death being more present. You know when Death is close because of the light. The scene gets darker. I think it is good that Death feels present again because somehow it feels more real that way.

Other things about Final Destination 5

I think it is interesting that Sam and his co-workers are actually on the bridge while it starts to collapse. That is different from the other movies where the survivors are just close to where the accident happens. Furthermore, it is interesting to see one of the characters actually surviving in the vision. Again this hasn’t been done in any of the other movies. So even though you know it is a Final Destination movie it still does it’s own thing.

I also like that the deaths are as creative as in the first two movies. The deaths go faster at the end but the first three are very creative. Some of them are also unrealistic but that is Death’s work. There is a time skip at the end of the movie, but it is only two weeks so I can accept that.

There were two things I really enjoyed while watching the movie. Firstly, the start of the movie gave hints as to how previous characters had died. Secondly, the ending of the movie felt like a tribute to the other four movies.

Flight 180 is not being mentioned in Final Destination 5 even though you can see Easter eggs about flight 180 during the movie. There is a reason for this though but I am not gonna tell you. You will have to watch the movie to find out.

Final Destination 5 is…

Great! I love this movie. It is just as good as Final Destination 1 and 2 but at the same time it has an unpredictable ending. At least if you ask me. After watching the movie several times, I still get shocked because of the ending. I couldn’t remember it. So if you enjoyed the first two Final Destination movies you will most likely also enjoy this one. Even if you didn’t watch the third and fourth movies you can still watch Final Destination 5. So go ahead – only Death can stop you.