Final Destination 5

Too bad that the promising beginning (which probably swallowed up 80% of the budget) is followed only by mediocre routine filmmaking. And it’s a shame that this routine is made even worse by the fatal fumbling of the screenwriters, who make logic disappear and the characters behave in a way that’ll make you think the projectionist skipped a reel. The self-serving forced epilogue, which tries to build a fancy bridge to the beginning of the series, doesn’t do much to salvage the film. Final Destination 5 is mediocre, easy-to-forget fast-food of a movie. (09/14/2011)

The fourth remake ;-) It avoids the final destination with an interesting trump card, but instead of using it wisely, it flushes it down the toilet. The idea that the cursed can avoid death by killing another person is really good, and it could have been the basis of some really depressing, oppressive and serious horror. Instead, it’s just entertainment for teenagers, even if pretty tense and well put together in several scenes. It’s certainly better than the awful fourth part (and the average third), but I’m still a little disappointed because, if the creators had used the new idea better and had taken the franchise in a new direction, FD5 could have been great. This is just OK fun to watch once. (12/08/2011)

The plot of the fifth instalment of Final Destination is one big catastrophe. And if the word catastrophe has some definition, here it is multiplied by two. It’s still better than the instalment number four but it can’t beat the second movie, which was quite shocking and the opening scene was on a whole different level than this movie. Anyhow, it was still properly brutal and I must say that I more or less enjoyed myself. I’d just cut it down to the dying scenes because I don’t need all those fillers. (01/17/2013)

The opening is great and the bridge collapse is technically and cinematically perfect. However, I'm amazed that the filmmakers have already embarked on a fifth sequel with the same premise, because this part copies the first one literally scene by scene. The premonition, the escape from death, the funeral, the precisely lined up deaths, the rescue of the protagonists and finally the well-executed final scene, which I had long anticipated. In addition, unlike the first part, the story is now too routine, the deaths are overly contrived, and it lacks the true horror edge and surprise that director Wang could have relied on ten years ago. Final Destination 5 is not a bad horror film and still holds a pretty decent position in the vast crowd of teen murder mysteries, but I wouldn't think of recommending it to my friends. 60% (09/24/2012)