I mentioned in my "week of movies" post that the one movie from my list that I failed to see was Final Destination 5. On Sunday, I rectified that failure. I'm not sure what this says about the relationship we have, but watching the Saw movies and the Final Destination movies is a guilty pleasure that my sister and I share. Out of the twelve movies that includes, I believe we've watched ten of them together. I was bummed when we never got around to watching the fourth Final Destination in the theater. Mostly, I wanted to see a 3D horror movie, and a Final Destination movie was the only one I would be brave enough to see. Anyway, I was pretty pumped to see that there was going to be a Final Destination 5 because I could finally experience one of these movies in 3D.
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| Credit: Doane Gregory/Warner Bros. Pictures |
Let me tell you, 3D was made for this kind of movie. I saw Captain America recently in 3D, and it added very little to the movie. For Final Destination 5, however, 3D was a huge enhancement. As sick as this may sound, gore looks really cool in 3D. Whether it's an eye ball rolling towards you or a protruding pole on which someone has just been stabbed, it simply produces more of an effect than a slightly-more-dimensioned superhero (even if that superhero is as attractive as Chris Evans is). These visual effects are an important part of the movie because the Final Destination movies are largely visual. Let's be honest; nobody goes to these movies for character development or the complex storylines. If you do, I suggest you view some more movies. I still think Final Destination 5 can be enjoyed in non-3D, but if you are going to see it and you have the option, go the 3D route.
The 3D element also added to the movie's camp factor. The makers of Final Destination 5 were fully aware that this is not a movie that people take especially seriously. Thus, they had fun with it, and there was plenty of campiness and comedy. I wasn't laughing at the movie, I was laughing with the movie. While there was plenty of campiness and comedy, they also made sure to not let these elements completely overwhelm the movie. The deaths are still pretty horrifying, and there's more thought put into the movie that I had expected. The basic plot is still the same always: someone has a premonition of a disaster (this time, an awesome bridge collapse sequence); they use this premonition to escape the disaster, bringing several people with them to safety; death follows them around and tries to kill them in freak "accidents." However, there are a couple of interesting twists to the movie (namely one in particular), but I don't want to spoil it for you
I think a large part of the reason that I enjoyed Final Destination 5 is its fun cast. I wasn't overly familiar with any of them, but I did recognize a few. Rather than knowing them by name, however, it was more like "hey that's Claire's love interest from season two of Heroes," or "that's the girl who I've already seen traumatized in Frozen," or even "I've never seen that girl before, but she could seriously be a Megan Fox/Cobie Smulders hybrid." I must admit that a large part of the cast's charm is that their Saved by the Bell/Final Destination music video primed me to like them (I've embedded it below this paragraph for your viewing pleasure). Honestly, I felt like I would have enjoyed that cast even if I hadn't seen their music video, but maybe that's just my priming speaking.
The 3D element also added to the movie's camp factor. The makers of Final Destination 5 were fully aware that this is not a movie that people take especially seriously. Thus, they had fun with it, and there was plenty of campiness and comedy. I wasn't laughing at the movie, I was laughing with the movie. While there was plenty of campiness and comedy, they also made sure to not let these elements completely overwhelm the movie. The deaths are still pretty horrifying, and there's more thought put into the movie that I had expected. The basic plot is still the same always: someone has a premonition of a disaster (this time, an awesome bridge collapse sequence); they use this premonition to escape the disaster, bringing several people with them to safety; death follows them around and tries to kill them in freak "accidents." However, there are a couple of interesting twists to the movie (namely one in particular), but I don't want to spoil it for you
I think a large part of the reason that I enjoyed Final Destination 5 is its fun cast. I wasn't overly familiar with any of them, but I did recognize a few. Rather than knowing them by name, however, it was more like "hey that's Claire's love interest from season two of Heroes," or "that's the girl who I've already seen traumatized in Frozen," or even "I've never seen that girl before, but she could seriously be a Megan Fox/Cobie Smulders hybrid." I must admit that a large part of the cast's charm is that their Saved by the Bell/Final Destination music video primed me to like them (I've embedded it below this paragraph for your viewing pleasure). Honestly, I felt like I would have enjoyed that cast even if I hadn't seen their music video, but maybe that's just my priming speaking.
In short, Final Destination 5 is very much a Final Destination movie. It's more gore than plot. If you don't like the previous ones at all, you probably won't magically like this one. However, if you liked the first movie, but have been disappointed by some of the sequels, you might be pleasantly surprised. I'd say that it's definitely the best one of the bunch since the first, and a case could be made that it was better (although it's been a while since I watched the first movie, so I'd have to watch it again to truly evaluate it).
I would like to give a warning however, that you may find yourself especially paranoid for a couple of days after watching Final Destination 5. Riding home from the movie was somewhat stressful, and since the movie, I've imagined various ways in which an unlikely "accident" could kill me. The latest idea was a ceiling fan becoming detached somehow, spinning towards me, and beheading me.
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