Final Destination: Bloodlines — Movie Review & Breakdown

Final Destination: Bloodlines

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What better first movie to review than the fifth installment of the critically acclaimed Final Destination franchise!?!

Final Destination: Bloodlines directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein was on brand for the series of horror flicks.

Was it good? No…
Was it entertaining? Ummm yeah, I guess so.

As expected, the movie is packed with gruesome deaths, but this one leans more into comedy, giving it a lighthearted tone even with the body count.

The film follows Stefani and her family as they try to figure out how to cheat death, which has been stalking them ever since an incident involving her grandma Iris back in 1968. In classic Final Destination style, death picks them off one by one while they scramble to stop the inevitable.

I’m not going to think too deep into it, it’s clearly meant to be a fun, over-the-top movie. That said, even by Final Destination standards, the acting and plot were just okay.

Overall, if you’re in the mood for something mindless and don’t have a weak stomach, you might actually enjoy this one.

Final Destination: Bloodlines Sucked 6 Balls out of 10.

SPOILERS AHEAD

For those of you who actually saw this movie in theaters like I did, let’s take a closer look at some scenes that stood out to me.

Starting with the opening sequence, the music and visuals were actually very cool, and the iconic premonition scene might be the best one in the entire series, in my opinion. After that, the film cuts to Stefani in the classroom, but it doesn’t give us much background on her struggles with the recurring dream. As the story moves along and she gets Iris’s address from her aunt (surprisingly easily), she visits her loony grandma at her “fortress.” That’s when I started to realize I probably wasn’t meant to take this movie too seriously.

I mean, why would anyone trying to be safe surround their house with spike fences, explosive barrels, and booby traps? Maybe I’m overthinking it, but it just felt kind of silly.

Then we get to the part where Stefani receives the “survival guide” from Iris, which, honestly, I still don’t understand. It just shows every possible way to die, and you’re supposed to somehow prevent it? Who knows. After that, we dive into all the usual Final Destination chaos with the crazy, over-the-top deaths.

The comedic relief from Bobby and Erik actually worked. It added a layer of self-awareness to the movie and showed the directors weren’t taking things too seriously either.

After the hospital scene where Bobby and Erik die, the remaining survivors decide, for some reason, that the safest place to go is back to Iris’s fortress. I don’t really see how ramming an RV into that death trap would help their odds of survival.

Then there’s Darlene (Stefani’s mom) saving Charlie (Stefani’s brother), only to get taken out by falling debris, which puts Stefani next on the list. Long story short: Stefani drowns, Charlie brings her back, and it seems like the chain is finally broken. Right?

Nope. In classic Final Destination fashion, it turns out Stefani never actually died, and just as they realize this, they all get hit by a train as the credits roll. Didn’t see that one coming.

Please let me know what you guys thought of the film and the Final Destination Franchise in the comments.

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