With any movie in the Final Destination series, we can expect numerous kills that make you suddenly fear a normal task. Whether it's driving behind a log truck or using a tanning bed, the franchise has constantly utilized creative kills on seemingly everyday activities. The newest installment in the franchise, Final Destination Bloodlines, utilizes these same techniques but is also the first great movie in the series.
The franchise undergoes a major shift in the new movie as the main character isn't the one who had the premonition that typically sets the chain of events into motion. Through a flashback that utilizes the standard tension that we've come to love in these movies, we see Iris (Brec Bassinger) have a premonition that leads to her saving hundreds of people, but also truly pisses Death off.
We quickly jump to the present where we meet Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana), who is having nightmares about the events that Iris prevented. This includes a death that serves as a direct callback to the second installment of the franchise that'll make long-time fans smirk. Santa Juana is a true standout in this role and utilizes a range of emotions throughout the film that prevent it from becoming cheesy or a run-of-the-mill flick.
After Stefani decides to confront her family about the nightmares she's been experiencing, it sets the eventual deaths we'll see later in the movie into motion. We're introduced to a collection of cousins, her aunt and uncle, her brother, and her dad. Their conversations eventually lead Stefani to search for Iris and eventually find her isolated in the woods.
Throughout the Final Destination movies, we've seen numerous characters who think they can outsmart death, but Iris is the first one who seems to have actually succeeded. Her cabin is fortified to prevent death, and she shares a book with Stefani that has served as her cheat guide for avoiding death throughout the last few decades. She also explains that death will be coming for the family in biological order and that all the survivors—and their respective bloodlines—from the accident Iris has prevented have died.
In order to prove that death is on the horizon, Iris steps outside the cabin for the first time and is almost instantly killed in a death that's another callback to the second movie in the franchise. The tie-ins and easter eggs to previous franchises are clear throughout the entire film, but you can see that directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein have an appreciation for the original sequel throughout the movie.
As more deaths start to rack up amongst the family, we're eventually brought back to franchise stalwart William John Bludworth (Tony Todd) as the family believes he can answer questions about death and stop the chain from continuing. JB explains that death can only be defeated by taking a life or being revived after death, which we saw in the 5th and 2nd installments, respectively.
After two of Stefani's cousins fail—brutally and painfully—going the revival route, Stefani, her brother Charlie (Teo Briones), and their mom Darlene (Rya Kihlstedt) realize that they can cheat death by having Darlene stay in the cabin that Iris previously inhabited. From here, the film constantly plays with the tension of death being right around the corner, and it makes for a great ending sequence full of the gore and violence we've come to expect from this franchise.
Final Destination: Bloodlines also does a great job of somehow pulling humor from these brutal deaths, and it's what makes the franchise so enjoyable overall. There were numerous moments where the theater laughed out loud collectively, and it's not something you'd expect from a typical movie filled with this much violence.
Additionally, the movie finds a way to utilize tension in numerous fake-out moments that don't feel cheap and add to the overall enjoyment of the film. The best part of these movies is that literally anything can cause a death, and even with the foreshadowing we typically get before something big happens, we're still caught by surprise with the how.
The movie also sets a new bar for the franchise as it's not just a movie with great kills; it's a great movie overall. It's feasible to say that although some of the deaths have been better in previous installments, this is the first time where the acting, writing, and directorial vision have come together to make a truly fun and memorable time.
After seemingly giving us a happy ending that we never expect in these movies, we're suddenly pulled into a situation that fans of the second and third movies will appreciate. It truly proves that we can never expect death to go away quietly, and that's part of what has made these movies so much fun over the years.
The Final Destination franchise seemed destined to end after the failure of the fifth installment, but Bloodlines proves that there are tons of stories left to explore moving forward. The film has already made back most of its budget and will likely continue to rake in money over the next few weeks as the only major horror movie in theaters at the moment.
As someone who has seen all of these movies numerous times and owns a physical copy of the third installment, I recommend going to the theater and seeing this on the biggest screen possible. It's a great time for horror fans and long-time fans of the franchise, but also for anyone who enjoys a dark comedy with a little bit of guts thrown in.
Final Destination Bloodlines is currently in theaters.