"Final Destination 5" brings the franchise full circle, and hopefully, at its end

by Ken San Nicolas

Director: Steven Quale

Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

Genre: Horror

Starring: Nicholas D'Agosto, Emma Bell

So, I'm confused -- didn't they end this series with "The Final Destination" film of 2009? Well, for whatever reason, producers must have felt like they could have squeezed more out of this franchise by throwing in another film to the series. So here we are in 2011, with "Final Destination 5" -- what will hopefully be the final film in a promising franchise that has gone horribly wrong.

Sam (Nicholas D'Agosto) joins a bunch of colleagues on a work retreat. While stuck in traffic on a suspension bridge, Sam has a premonition of the bridge collapsing. He convinces some of his acquaintances to get off the bridge with him, moments before it collapses. As the friends try to cope with the loss of their coworkers, it seems as if death has become inescapable -- one by one the survivors meet an untimely end in the weirdest of circumstances. Will Sam be able to cheat death, or is the final chapter inevitable?

If you are familiar with the Final Destination franchise, you know what happens -- kids cheat death, death seeks revenge one by one, kids try to cheat 'death's plan', death finds a way. This is the formula for these films and when the first one came out in 2000, it surely was original. But, more than a decade later, you would think that the writers would have some original content to put out aside from creative death scenes. In fact, the deaths in this chapter of the series aren't creative anyway! What's the point of watching this?

I can't recommend this film. There truly is no saving grace to this particular installment of the franchise. New writers need to come into the series and introduce a refreshing bit of comedy, horror and originality into something that has been pretty flat since it's second offering. Better yet, put a fork in it -- this series is done.

0 out of 5 stars.