Final Destination Bloodlines Review

Final Destination Bloodlines review: Years after Final Destination 5, the well-known series makes a comeback with Final Destination: Bloodlines, seeking to continue the game’s epic storey of surviving death. The directors, Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein, present a novel concept, considering that death can come not only by destiny but also through the blood. Though the elements introduced lead to the idea of more, the film itself stays in the past.

Table of Contents

Tagline: One step closer to death, many steps behind the originals.

Critic’s Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
Actual Verdict: ★★½☆ (2.5/5)

Story & Direction

The storey is about Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana), who ends up having deadly dreams passed on by her grandmother that relate to a tower collapse in the 1960s. The connexion between parents and children allows the writers to blend prequel and continuation, even if the inherited dreams concept feels unexplored. Regardless of how good the start was, the film does not use this moment to build on the franchise’s world, instead sticking to familiar plotlines.

Direction: ★★★★☆
Dialogues: ★★★★☆
Screenplay: ★★★★☆

Where It Falters

Bloodlines has the hardest time bringing together its past traditions and fresh new ideas. The writers stick to the same pattern: a warning, scepticism, and then tragedy. The reactions of the characters seem very repetitive, which makes the movie feel like an old-hat attempt instead of something original. There isn’t enough emotion, so the film moves along slowly.

Watching Tony Todd in the role of Bludworth isn’t enough to really save the film. Though he adds greater drama to the movie, Snoke isn’t clearly developed in the screenplay, meaning many Star Wars enthusiasts miss important details.

Where It Shines

When it comes to the death scenes Bloodlines does it justice. The first scene – a jaw-dropping disaster in the style of the 60s – is certainly a brutal and glorious way to start a film. The way the film maintains these type of kills of using ordinary objects in an extraordinary way is a conceptual horror delight. The directors are skilled misdirectors who are also brilliant at keeping the audience in utter chaos during the final 3rd of the film.

The look of the film too with past tense, and current tense is also achieved well due to Christian Sebaldt’s talented photography, and Rachel O’Toole’s minimalistic but stylish production design. It does get a bit ugly with the visual fx, and there are also points where the viewers may find inconsistencies in the original framing, but those are hardly inconvenient.

Action: ★★★★☆
Visual Appeal: ★★★★☆

Final Verdict

Final Destination: Bloodlines has fleeting brilliance in the realm of grotesquerie, but also plays it too safe. The film hints at deeper themes and a new course, yet also becomes entangled in its own narrative limbo. While the deaths are inventive and the direction stylish, the unwillingness to evolve its characters and mythology means Bloodlines ultimately falls short of its predecessor films.

Pros: