Final Destination: Bloodlines is a Ghoulishly Fun Thrill Ride -

By Luis Zonenberg

The great summer blockbuster season continues on with some Halfway to Halloween leftovers. As the Mission Impossible franchise closes out with the Final Reckoning, Hollywood decided to revive another dead franchise to bring audiences some more thrills. Case in point here is Final Destination: Bloodlines, the first entry in almost 15 years since the last one was released.

The story focuses on college student Stefani Reyes (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) as she is plagued with nightmares of a 1968 tower collapse. She finds out that her dream was a premonition her grandmother Iris (Gabrielle Rose and Brec Bassinger) had had before the building collapsed on itself. After witnessing her grandmother’s gruesome death, Stefani comes to believe her whole family is in danger and searches for a way to cheat what death has in store for them.

The story manages to put a very clever spin on the franchise’s formula, without it getting too repetitive or convoluted like earlier entries. While it does remain a fun gimmick for the story and set up some gory set-pieces, I was surprised to see how emotionally engaging it was. The script is really smart to spend time with the family and see how trauma can be inflicted on multiple generations.

The acting was consistently fun to watch as well, with Kaitlyn Santa Juana being a real standout. She is a very engaging protagonist, with her performance reflecting the deep emotional scars her character has. Richard Harmon, Rya Kihlstedt, and Teo Briones are also very likable in their supporting roles as well. For what little time he had on screen, Tony Todd still carried his magnetic presence and every word he said hit home! The film ultimately served as a wonderful tribute to his character.

The cinematography builds upon the fun thrills and makes it really engaging to watch. It elevates the tension and stakes all the characters face, making it one rollercoaster of a ride for the audience to enjoy. It is nothing too flashy that feels ego-driven or blandly mundane to feel boring, but rather energetic and simply fun to watch. It is nothing impressive, but still a nice treat that feels like the cherry on top.

The VFX of the movie can be wonky at times and hardly anything majestic to look at. It is very serviceable and will only impact your viewing experience based on how far you push your level of disbelief. This feels rather par the course for the franchise at this point, but at least it matched the kinetic energy of its story and photography enough to blend in rather well.

Now, knowing that this was screened in 4D, I cannot help but feel cheated in my viewing experience. The movie is very entertaining and a lot of fun to watch. This is easily the best film of the franchise by far with a very clever twist on the tried and true formula it has since run into the ground. With a fun premise and a colorful bunch of characters, Final Destination: Bloodlines resurrects the series on a high note!

Final Destination: Bloodlines is now playing in theaters.

Rating: ★★★★☆