Final Destination 5

Same Game, New Blood! The Final Destination series enters its fifth round. And once again, a group of primarily young people are sniping in the midst of a catastrophe. And again, the survivors are gradually transported to the afterlife in original ways. Who now believes that there are no surprises in the fifth part, is mistaken. Because Final Destination 5 is despite all the familiar set pieces due to some very good elements quite a lot of fun and for fans of the series a real enrichment.

After the plane explosion, the accident on a highway, the bloody roller coaster accident and the disaster at the car race, it is this time a collapsing bridge that costs many people their lives. Only Sam (Nicholas D`Agosto), who had a vision of the bridge collapse on his way to a company outing, is able to save himself and some of his colleagues. But at the funeral service, the survivors receive a warning from a mysterious undertaker (Tony Todd) that they should take good care of themselves. Because death doesn't like to be messed with. And indeed: already short time later there is the first cruel accident, to which one of Sam's colleagues falls victim. But there is a way to cheat death.

Final Destination 5 is one of the few movies that are considerably more fun in 3D than in the two-dimensional version. The makers use the 3D effect to great effect, especially during the extremely gory death scenes. Especially the bridge incarceration, which is probably one of the most spectacular moments of the entire series, gets the adrenaline pumping in 3D. But also the other death sequences, in which again and again very cleverly and also amusingly with the expectation of the viewer is played, work again in the fifth attempt really well.

Naturally, the plot is not exactly original and the characters remain pale until the end - which is not so bad, because the viewer has anyway only little time to build an emotional connection to them. But especially compared to the very weak fourth part, a huge step forward was made in terms of dramaturgy and humor.

What makes part 5 stand out from the other parts is the small rule change that there is definitely a way to escape the cold grip of death. While this does turn the horror fun into a bit more thriller, especially in the final third, the bottom line is that this little innovation does the series a lot of good. But it's not this element that leaves fans of the series with a big smile on their face at the end of the movie. The only thing responsible for that is the finale, which is simply brilliant. To reveal more would be an absolute nastiness, especially for fans. Therefore, only so much: loyal Final Destination fans will have much more fun here than such viewers who have not yet entered this universe.

Who expects nothing really groundbreaking new and simply want to be entertained by original and partly very effective death scenes and be splattered by 3D blood, Final Destination 5 can be warmly recommended to alone because of the bridge sequence and the great ending. Just one last piece of information: in some cinemas Final Destination 5 will also be shown in a FSK 16 version that has been shortened by almost 3 minutes. So fans should be careful that they don't end up in this cut version! Worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp