Review: Final Destination 5

So last week I attended two movie press screenings and it was really fun to have that privilege so thank you once again to my Pinoyexchange family. I'll share to you first my review for "Final Destination 5" which had its press screening last Thursday (August 18) at Glorietta. Later on my review for "Cars 2" will be posted. These reviews are published at Pinoyexchange's Official Movie Reviews

The Final Destination franchise was supposed to end with the last movie released two years ago which was officially titled "The Final Destination” but that movie exceeded box office expectations (thanks to the 3D gimmick which was fairly new to the audience back then) so the studio green lighted another sequel which offers more of the same thing but with some standout sequences that delivered the punches.

Final Destination 5 opens with Sam (Nicholas D'Agosto) and his officemates preparing for their company retreat and while on their way Sam sees a vision of a disastrous bridge collapse that would kill them all. Upon realizing that it was all a premonition, Sam tried to warn his officemates to leave the bus before they cross that bridge. His premonition came true and only 8 of them survived the tragedy. But they were not supposed to survive so “death” haunts them one by one.

So this movie basically follows the Final Destination template where you will see the survivors of the tragedy suffer from elaborate and ridiculous ways to die. So the key for this movie’s success is if the set pieces are exciting to watch. In this edition, two sequences delivered the thrills and those are the big bridge collapse catastrophe and the ghastly gymnasts’ go-around. The clear standout is the set piece involving the gymnasts which was masterfully executed and for that alone I would recommend this movie. That sequence was very keen with details and presented various ways that the victim could die which toying audience expectations. The director managed to heighten the suspense with every shot and the conclusion to that sequence was shocking but actually makes sense. The next sequences were a mixed bag: some like involving the massage started promising but petered out and the one involving the eye surgery was a hot mess. The movie is rated R13 but with no cuts so you would see the movie in its full g[l]ory.

The acting from the largely unknown cast is acceptable given how thin the material they are given. And as for seeing this on 3D, the bridge collapse tragedy was executed well for 3D use and the aforementioned gymnast sequence works too but the rest of the movie just didn’t click with the format (unless of course you look forward to spats of blood and disconnected body parts in your face then this movie has a lot of that to offer).

Final Destination 5 ends on a note that could finally conclude the franchise and it’s actually a clever way to end it (of course the franchise’s fate depends on the worldwide box office and I heard if this one makes enough money the six and seventh installments will be shot back to back). If you enjoyed the franchise (or at least a movie or two) then this movie is for you but this edition didn’t really inject a new life to the franchise but just presented another set of ways on how to die horribly. 6 / 10

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Final Destination 5 opens in the Philippines on August 24.