Final Destination: Bloodlines 💀🩸

 

A young woman discovers her family is being hunted by death because of something her grandma did in the 1960s.

I have to say they really got creative with the Rube Goldberg deaths in this one, like the filmmakers were really creative and intuitive when it came to pacing out the suspense and giving you a very satisfying and memorably gory death, like you will be going “ooooooh” at least once.

Speaking of characters, that’s another strong plus of this movie. All of the main characters were likable, and the actors gave really compelling and interesting performances. Even at the beginning, I thought one or two might be underdeveloped and just kind of there for the body count, but by the end, you also ended up liking every family member and hoping they survived.

Usually, I try and call out performances I thought were really good and stood out, but I think everyone in the cast did a very good job and gave very entertaining and engrossing performances, so… Just go look at the cast list to see who did a good job. I will say my favorite character was Erik. He was really funny and sarcastic, which I always like, plus the actor was very charming, so I think he’ll be everyone’s favorite character.

Plus, the main actress (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) did a great job at portraying intense “crazy” eyes… If you see the movie, you know what I mean, lol

Also, this had one of the most satisfying character deaths I’ve seen in a while… When you see the movie, you don’t know exactly who I’m talking About… I shouldn't have clapped, but I did 👏😂

I also quite enjoyed the directing in the movie; there were a lot of cool Sam Raimi-type Dutch angles, which I always dig.

Similar to Alien: Romulus, there is a little bit of a “greatest hits” feel with this movie, like there are some definite callbacks to previous films; for example, some plot points and scenarios felt similar to previous films, but it was never lazy or felt forced. They felt natural to the story and well written, not to mention. If you’re a fan of this series , you’ll definitely have a few moments when you’ll be like, “Oh, that’s on this entry or that one,” without it feeling pandering.

Also, VERY, VERY LIGHT SPOILER… I like how they used more of the psychic powers in this universe.

Sadly, this is the last film of Tony Todd, but he gave the part his all, and for the amount of screen time he had, he was great. As always, he was good, but his final scene was a great sendoff to a fantastic actor and dude. Rest in peace, Tony. Thanks for all the great work and memories .

I was a little worried about the gore at first, just because a good amount of the effects are CGI.

and those can feel artificial compared to practical effects at times… Not here, though. Maybe the effects team used practical effects and then used CGI to enhance them; maybe it was just $50 million that made some really good effects, but those deaths definitely fit with the rest of the series, and we’re just as brutal.

This is a small thing for me, but… The other films used a lot of Canadian actors and locations, and it was the same here, so I appreciated that because it helped make the series feel “on brand.”

The cinematographer did an excellent job. The lighting was definitely stylized, but not overly so; you could tell it just took what lights were naturally there and just used them in specific ways to heighten the look and feel of everything, which was very smart and well done.

The plot had some good twists and turns, and the story had no real fat on it; everything unfolded naturally and was entertaining and well paced. It’s like a fun ride. This thing starts and it keeps going until the end, and if you’re into it, you’re going to have a really fun time.

So I was a little nervous walking into this movie. I mean, it’s been so long since the last one, and bringing back a dormant franchise can be very hit or miss, and since this is one I grew up on and really enjoyed, I was worried this one just wouldn’t hold up … Luckily, you can tell everyone was very passionate and excited to work on this film and had a lot of creative and interesting takes on the story, and they made a really entertaining and fun movie that I was surprised how much I got into and enjoyed… In general, I would say this is a four-star movie, but since I’m a fan of this franchise and I had a lot of fun watching it, it pushes my rating slightly over to a low five “stars” 💀💀💀💀💀. I will say my nostalgia and sick sense of humor might be clouding my judgment, but when you have a good time, you have a good time, so you might as well enjoy it. 💀🩸👍