Final Destination: Bloodlines is the finalist of destinations yet. Fans of this franchise will love every gory and cringy moment. Was fourteen years worth the wait? Absolutely.
Synopsis: Plagued by a recurring violent nightmare, a college student returns home to find the one person who can break the cycle and save her family from the horrific fate that inevitably awaits them. | 1h 50m | Rated R for strong violent/grisly accidents, and language
Death has waited fourteen years to seek out a theater audience of fans new and old. A franchise that started a quarter century ago – that is hard to wrap your mind around – ends (?) in the most spectacular fashion. If you thought the early films had you on the edge of your seat watching through squinted eyes, this one will have you in a fetal position.
No one who saw the first film twenty five years ago has been able to pass a log truck the same. That is a sign of true cinematic power. We have allowed five films to make us paranoid of pretty much everything. This one plays on those fears perfectly. Someone plugs in an appliance, walks down the street, gets in the shower; and we sink lower in our seat. Only to realize the brutal moment is coming somewhere we never expected, to blindside us with gory demise.
This story follows college student Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) as she tries to figure out the origin of her recent nightmares. She discovers a secret going back nearly fifty years and must now try and keep death away from her and her family. But death does what death does and starts picking them off one by one; as only Final Destination can. Writers Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor are some sick and twisted puppies. The moments they create in this one are intense and gruesome.
There are funny moments here as well. When you have action and gore at this level you have to balance it with silly moments and odd characters. Stefani’s brother and cousins handle the terror in different forms, but all with a dark twist of humor. If a person were to experience even one death the way these kids do, it would take years of therapy. Also, fans of all the FD films will love looking for and finding all the easter eggs, nods, and homages to the franchise.
It is possible that the early films brought about the same thoughts, or maybe we have all aged fourteen years since the last one, but you can not escape the notion that fearing death takes more from the living than actual death. Being engulfed with paranoia and panic around every corner, locking yourself away in a room, scared to do anything; that is not living. It feels as if the worry of death makes death’s job easier. If these characters just lived their lives to the fullest would they be less likely to meet a gruesome end? Does running from death cause you to run right in to it?
Final Destination: Bloodlines was filmed for IMAX and those who want to experience it to the fullest should seek out the largest screen possible. But be warned that the larger the screen and the louder the speakers, the more in your face the blood and guts will be. For some that is exciting, for others, no. There is no doubt that the first 15 minutes of this film is the most terrifying of your IMAX lives. It plays into every phobia and triggering element imaginable. But, as they say, in for a penny in for a pound.
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