2025 | R | 110 mins | Directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein
It has been 14 years since the last Final Destination movie hit theaters. Over the course of the 2000s, and early 2010s, the Final Destination franchise has been one of the most consistent horror franchises around. Featuring a straightforward storyline that allows for the filmmakers to be creative when it comes to killing of its characters, the franchise has been extremely popular since the beginning. Except for The Final Destination, the fourth movie in the franchise, every movie in this series has plenty of fun and entertaining moments of people getting killed in ridiculous ways. Final Destination: Bloodlines manages to continue the fun despite some negatives that keep it from reaching its full potential.
This time around, the movie follows Stefani, a college student who is having nightmares about a tragic accident from the 1960s. Stefani discovers that these nightmares are of a premonition that her estranged grandmother had so many decades before. Her grandmother Iris had a premonition of a building collapsing, and she was able to save everyone inside. Afterwards, everyone that was saved from the collapse all started dying in mysterious ways. This leads to Stefani starting to have visions of her family members dying. Once she learns the process from her grandmother she tries to do whatever she can to prevent her family from dying.
If you are going to see a Final Destination movie, chances are you know exactly what you're going to get. That is exactly what Bloodlines delivers, more of the same. Despite it being more of the same, this time things seem more self-aware, and it feels like the filmmakers really try to play into just how ridiculous these movies can be. This movie manages to be predictable yet at the same time subvert the audience's expectations. All of this adds to the fun and trying to figure out what is coming next, which character is going to get it next and how this is all going to pan out.
One thing that Bloodlines does right is there is no shortage of blood and carnage throughout the movie. There are plenty of new and creative ways that characters are killed off and each one is more ridiculous than the last. The opening premonition is one of the weaker ones in the series but, it is still a lot of fun trying to figure out what exactly is going to happen. Many of the death sequences are hilarious and some of the character get some funny lines that make this one of the funniest entries in the series.
Kaitlyn Santa Juana does a good job in role. She puts in the best performance, and she handles the lead role quite well. The rest of the cast all do fine but nobody else is much of a standout. This does feature the last performance of the late great Tony Todd. He returns as his recurring character William Bludworth. Even though it is easy to see that he was not well at the time of shooting his scene, he still is able to give it his all and provide one of the best scenes in the movie.
While Bloodlines is entertaining, there are some things that keep it from reaching its full potential. These movies have gotten more and more CGI heavy with each entry and this one is the most egregious with its effects. There are a few moments where it looks like there might be some practical stuff being used but most of the movie looks like old video game effects. Almost every scene is shot on a poorly done green screen. It constantly looks like the actors are in some warehouse with a big digital screen behind them. At times it almost takes you out of the movie because of how bad it looks.
Despite some inconsistencies, Final Destination: Bloodlines still manages to do what these movies do best. There are plenty of fun and bloody moments throughout, a few good performances and many laugh out loud moments. If you are a fan of this series, you are sure to enjoy this entry.
Grade: B-
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