One of the most iconic horror franchises of the 2000s has to be the Final Destination series. As of right now, there are five films in total with another one on the way. They're slasher movies with a twist, and though critics haven't been the biggest fans, their commercial and audience success makes up for that. Individually the movies are a bit hit or miss, but as a franchise, it's definitely a standout, and how its final film wraps up the story is a huge reason for that.
The premise of the series is a very unique one, which is one of the positives of the franchise. Every film starts with one character, the main character, experiencing a premonition of a horrible accident where many people are killed. In the first movie, it's a plane crash, but there are a plethora of accidents that occur. The main character and a few others then get out of the situation in one way or another, but of course, they aren't out of the woods yet. For the rest of the film, Death comes after them one by one, killing them in (usually) gory freak accidents. All of the films follow this formula, with only minor changes, and they usually have some kind of shock ending.
Final Destination's latest installment, appropriately named Final Destination 5, does everything all of the other ones do. It starts with a group of friends/coworkers on their way to a corporate retreat, when one of them envisions a bridge collapse that will kill almost everyone. He manages to persuade most of his peers to get off the bridge, and then of course it really happens. Then, all of the survivors start getting killed in gruesome ways. Because it's structured just like all of the other movies in the franchise, it might be a surprise how this film could be such a standout. Final Destination 5 however is a perfect wrap-up of the series, not only because of its bombshell ending but because of its genuinely good filmmaking.
Final Destination 5 is a genuinely good horror movie, that pays real homage to its franchise. Throughout the film, there are these really subtle references to other installments that anyone who knows the series will pick up on. But as a film separate from a franchise, it still definitely stands on its own. The reason fans watch these movies is to see the kills. They're always very creative, tense, and unexpected. They're also quite scary because though they are outlandish and rare they are also all technically possible.
It's not rare for people to say they're scared of certain everyday things, like tanning beds or rollercoasters, because of what they saw in these films. Final Destination 5 showcases these in a way that's even more tense. Many of the death scenes take you by surprise, even when you know what's coming, and are played out in a way that is truly hard to watch. This film is full of jump scares and cringey moments that are very effective. It's easily the best of the series, which on its own makes it a great way to finish it, but the ending scene is really what ties it all together.
The film ends with the main characters, 2/3 of the only survivors of the film, getting on a plane to Paris. They believe that they've beaten Death, they cheated the system, and have a new lease on life. It's slowly revealed to the audience though, that not everything was what it seemed. As previously stated, the very first Final Destination film begins with a premonition of a violent plane crash. Fans of the franchise will clue into what's happening in Final Destination 5 when they recognize a scene ripped right from the very beginning of the series.
Two screaming men are being pulled off of their plane, and it then all starts to unravel. Alarm bells are going off for the main character, especially when he learns that one of the men had experienced a premonition like he had, and then there is a close-up shot of his plane ticket. It's revealed that it is actually the year 2000, not 2011 like the audience had been led to believe, and this is the plane crash from the very first film. Final Destination 5is actually, a prequel.
The Final Destination 5 plot twist is very effective and genuinely shocking. It also provides such an amazing full-circle ending for the franchise, and makes a full watch-through of the series very satisfying. It seems like a complete story, a very scary one at that, and feels like a proper ending. Before the credits roll, they even show a compilation of some of the most iconic kills. It was clearly intended to be a final film, which is why fans were very shocked and somewhat disappointed to here that a sixth Final Destination film is actually confirmed and set to come out in 2022. It is a little unfair to write off a film before it even comes out, but with how perfectly Final Destination 5 ended the sixth film does just kind of feel like a money grab. Hopefully, it's a unique take on the premise and doesn't cheapen what was created with the original five films.