A fun sequel that’s still a matter of life and death.
I already have my reasons for why I don’t get any kind of piercings, even before “Final Destination: Bloodlines” came out. I’m already uncomfortable just thinking about the procedure and what happens when they get ripped off. It doesn’t matter where-bellybutton, nose, tongue, or even a male appendage-I don’t want to know what it would look like.
And I also already had my chain of reactions of ordering a soda without ice. I used to order with three ice cubes in my youth until I got the better option of ordering without ice. Now and then, it’s okay if there is a little bit, just as long as the drink doesn’t contain a broken glass piece in it.
The rules of “Final Destination” are simple. A character has a premonition of the gruesome deaths that will occur unless they can get to safety. But it turns out that Death doesn’t like to be cheated, so he (that is if when can call it a he) will find a way to kill the survivors one by one. Anything could kill you thanks to a chain of reactions.
The 6th entry “Final Destination: Bloodlines” focuses on a descendant of a survivor, and how she has nightmares of her grandma’s premonition. Of course her relatives have gone estranged from the old woman based on how she’s taken overprotectiveness on a higher level.
The descendant is Stefani Reyes (Kaitlyn Santa Juana), who is poised to fail college, unless she can get to the bottom of her nightmares. Her grandma Iris (Gabrielle Ross as the old lady and Brec Bassinger as the young lady) is the only survivor of the accident she saved everyone from the first time, but couldn’t the second time. That’s why she basically lives like an agoraphobic hermit in an abode that looks like something out of “Mad Max” with wooden spikes almost everywhere.
The cliche that I’ve grown weary of is how when Stefani tries to warn her cousins that death is coming for them based on the pattern on their family tree, they think she’s crazy and her eyes have to make her look so desperate. But the pain of the cliche (and I suffered it greatly with movies like “Smile” and “Dear Santa”) is lubricated by another subplot when her estranged mother (Rya Kihlstedt) comes back into her life. She left her family when she was a kid, and now she comes crawling back to them.
And besides, when some people get killed and I can’t say who, the cousins (who are played by Richard Harmon, Owen Joyner, and Anna Lore) and her younger brother Charlie (Teo Briones) start to believe the main heroine. So, the cliche is over here. Now, comes the rules they must follow in order to survive, which would be highly unlikely.
Tony Todd passed away last November at the age of 69, but was able to fight through his condition to reprise his role of William “JB”Bludworth, the death expert. He tells the youngsters Death coming for them, and he’s been through this before. The movie respects the actor and his character, and so do we. And I was one of the lucky ones to get my photo taken with him while I held a jar of honey (“Candyman” reference for you), so I miss him, as well.
I just reviewed “The Monkey” last February, and I mentioned how the gruesome deaths in that film would be worthy of a “Final Destination” sequel. And I think both that and “Final Destination: Bloodlines” would be worthy additions. There’s a lot of blood and gore, but there are also big laughs, tension, and an emotional side that keeps things going. And I like how it chooses to present this premise in the form of a family tree.
We know a lot of people will die in this sequel, because we’ve seen the other movies (and my least favorite of the franchise would be “Final Destination 3”), but we still think it’s fun the way the deaths are executed. Again, I think I’ll still have a Coke or Pepsi with no ice, please.