It pains me that we have to sit through the “Final Destination” films when it can be developed in to something with a rich mythos and an overreaching story arc that ties together various characters. Instead it trots out one death after the other and insultingly introduces a new plot element that is not only ridiculous but until now was never mentioned in a movie. Again “Final Destination” sets up a series of questions and never answers them. So I’m left asking why. And with no successful answers. Because the producers behind “Final Destination” don’t feel the need to turn this series in to a semi-intelligent franchise, they just want this to be the films with the outstanding deaths.
And part five doesn’t even succeed in that case as most of the deaths are outright disappointing and serve no function other than to keep people awake. Part five is more watchable than the previous films but so much more tedious and dull. This time around the writers introduce a new device in where suddenly in order to restore your life, you can take a life of anyone and keep yourself from suffering death’s wrath. Again, there are questions. Do you avoid death permanently or temporarily? Can it be anyone dying? Why does no one in future films figure this out but these people? They re-introduce Tony Todd’s character yet again only for the purposes of sloppily and conveniently showing up at the deaths to explain to the survivors that they can prevent their own deaths if they’re willing to kill someone to balance out the equation. But why? Why do some people have the ability to predict and dodge death? Why is death just a joke in these films? Why is death so angry? And most importantly who is Tony Todd’s character supposed to be?
Is he death incarnate? Is he the messenger of death? Is he death’s sidekick? Does he too have the ability to predict these violent deaths and feels obligated to clean them up after death itself? Is he Satan? God? Jesus Christ? The incarnation of equilibrium? From the Matrix? Truth be told, Part five isn’t as bad as its previous films in the series, it’s just so utterly inept and poorly made that it’s tough to enjoy anything that remotely happens. And even when it finds a loophole in the climax involving the first film, it all feels so cheaply tacked on that I couldn’t possibly have been impressed if I tried. The “Final Destination” series started off with great potential and it’s squashed it in the face of an easily pleased dunderheaded audience in need of gore and little logic.
Among the special features there is a small doc called “Circle of Death” that explores the making of the film with cast interviews and explorations in to the whole fate angle. “Alternate Death Scenes” reveals the… alternate death scenes of a few of the characters that aren’t much better than the bland offerings we see in the final film, but are at least shown for audiences wondering about alternate fates. And finally there are two alternate technical features for special effects buffs.
One examines the making of the big collapsing bridge sequence that involved the more creative deaths, while the second one examines the exploding airplane sequence in the finale. Both of which are infinitely more entertaining than the actual film. Another year another really bad offering from the strangely enduring “Final Destination” franchise. When the writers can get creative and imaginative, they opt instead to deliver brain dead entertainment for the lowest common denominator. Not even a tacked on surprise ending can save this mess.