Final Destination 5

Rob's Take:

Final Destination 5. Final Destination 5? There's been five of these damn movies? Isn't Final Destination fancy talk for "this is the last stop"? I'm sorry, but when the subway speaker announces "last stop", I never think, "Oh, it's cool. It'll just bash through the solid brick wall and keep going - it'll be like a short cut to awesomeness". No. NO! (shakes finger at the producers and financiers).

Okay, so they threw in Candyman to keep some sort of consistency. What? His real name is Tony Todd? How do you spell that? T-O-N-Y  T-O-Candyman. No - his name is Candyman. Well, the death scares are gory but lame - just like every death in every other one of these movies. Nothing much else about it. There was a bridge, some blood, and then a plane - which melded into the first Destination, hopefully seeing a fathomable Final Destination 6 under 17 feet of reinforced concrete and titanium.

Done. 

I give this thing 2 OOHS for effort and no AAHS for the same expected crap as the last four.

Angel's Take:

Shut up, Rob! To your credit, I'm a horror movie fanatic, and when I saw the preview for the latest addition to the Final Destination franchise - I was bored and disinterested - probably just like you.

To me, Final Destination is synonymous to the Saw series. Repetitive, unoriginal, and unnecessary. Both Final Destination and Saw resort to gimmick - how many rat traps does it take for a bit character to die a brutal an disgusting death? But with Final Destination - most of the opening catastrophic sequences are plausible. Destination 1 - airplane explosion/crash - check. Destination 2 - major multiple car accident - check. Destinations 3 and 4 sucked in my opinion - probably because I don't ride roller coasters due to my severe fear of heights (and Destination 3 did nothing to satiate my fear) and I don't spend my weekends at a racing junket. The only difference between Final Destination and the Saw franchises is that Saw has obnoxiously cornered the market on the Halloween box office weekend since it's inception. "Hey! It's Halloween! Let's spend our money and go see a 90 minutes of overladen death traps! Yeah!!"

With that said - I'll brief you on Final Destination 5.

The newest member to the series introduces the "well-developed" characters trying to survive a bridge collapse. Our lead in the film - the one who has the dubious honor of seeing more than he wants to see, resulting in guilt and disbelief over his over the top, "We're going to die!" rant that saves a "lucky" few - is the likeable and almost chipmunk-ish Nicholas D'Agosto. Side note: D'Agosto got his showbiz break starring alongside Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon in Election, a movie set in Omaha and directed by critically acclaimed Nebraskan, Alexander Payne. From there, D'Agosto has been in obscure (low budget horror movie, Drive-Thru - don't even waste your time on that one) and big time (television series, Heroes and the cheer leading/womanizing comedy romp, Fired Up!) Hollywood fare. D'Agosto delivers a competent performance in a film that he was reluctant to be a part of because the previous Destination was a butt plug in the anals annals of horror cinema.

Along for the ride is Emma Bell as the hapless and gratuitous love interest of the lead survivor; Miles Fisher aka Tom Cruise's baby brother as the lead's main buddy and subsequent arch nemesis; Arlen Escarpeta as the lead's co-worker; David Koechner as the lead's boss; and finally, Courtney B. Vance as the FBI agent on the case, who I believe was cast because he's one of the more recognizable (and I'm guessing affordable) actors, besides the creepy death expert, Tony "Candyman" Todd. The rest of the cast serve as obligatory death fodder to help the film progress from start to finish. The deaths aren't really over the top - they're a bit tame, to be honest. However, Final Destination 5 delivers a smart and effective twist for a conclusion.

Final Destination really didn't need another film - but we know how the game works and it was bound to happen. Hollywood is greedy and lacks brain power (Christopher Nolan and few others aside) due to tofu and soy latte overdose. At least the film was not an absolute monstrosity. I found myself rooting for the clairvoyant (is that right?) lead, whereas in Final Destinations 3 and 4, I could have cared less who lived and who died and in what order or patter. I give Final Destination 5 2 OOHS and 1 AAH for the noteworthy twist and death collage credits. Rent or purchase this movie at your personal discretion.