Review: Final Destination 5

I really didn't have much hope after The Final Destination. As I mentioned in that review, they were totally out of ideas. But you know what, Final Destination 5 is actually good! Hooray!

Our lead is Sam, played by the charming Nicholas D'Agosto (Fired Up, Heroes). Sam and his co-workers are on a bus, off to their team building retreat. And like team building isn't bad enough, Sam gets a premonition when the bus is on a bridge and, as you may expect, it ends with lots of dead people. So Sammy freaks and several co-workers get off the bus, including his ex Molly (Emma Bell) and his boss Dennis (David Koechner), while the rest plummet to their death. Oh well, at least everyone got out of that team building retreat.

And then it kinda goes into standard FD mode, but with great death scenes, Tony Todd's return and an ending they put more thought into than part 4 as a whole.

Let's talk about that ending.

*SPOILER ALERT*

How awesome was that? I loved it! I must admit, I didn't see the twist coming. I did wonder for a moment if the film took place earlier, because I noticed the championship banners at the gym were old. But then I shrugged it off, thinking, you know, maybe they sucked the past ten years? And I noticed the date on the gift certificate but didn't think anything about it at all. So yeah, I was really surprised with that ending!

*END SPOILERS*

I loved the cast. I'm surprised they got better talent for part 5 than for part 4. Besides D'Agosto there's Emma Bell (Frozen), Arlen Escarpeta (Friday the 13th) and Courtney B. Vance (Law & Order: Criminal Intent). I'd love to know how they actually got Vance to be in the movie.

Overall, one of the better FD films! A must see if you're a fan of the series. A 3,5/5.

Hey, I Like You! What's Your Latest Project? #1

I'm very much an actor-focused movie watcher. Throw an actor I like in a movie and I will watch it. It also works the other way around. I'm not likely to watch a movie if I don't know (or like) any of the castmembers.

Take Julie Benz for example. I've been a fan of Miss Benz since her Buffy and Angel days. I think she's terrific. Because of her I've watched Inventing the Abbotts, As Good as It Gets (I don't think it's that great, sorry), Jawbreaker, Satan's School for Girls, Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth, Rambo and Saw V. I've also watched Julie on the following shows: Payne, Roswell, Taken (mini-series), Supernatural (she was amazing) and of course, Dexter (also amazing). If Julie is attached to a project, my interest is piqued.

In contrast, I've never been excited to hear about Brad Pitt or Christian Bale's latest projects nor will I go out of my way to watch them. They're too famous and they're in movies all the time. It's the less famous actors that I don't get to see too often that excite me.

So welcome to Did I Miss 60B's newest category 'Hey, I Like You! What's Your Latest Project?' where I'll take a look at the upcoming projects of actors that I like that aren't super duper famous.

Arlen Escarpeta and Nicholas D'Agosto
Bloody Disgusting reports that both Arlen Escarpeta (Friday the 13th) and Nicholas D'Agosto (Fired Up) have been cast in Final Destination 5. It surprised me that New Line was actually able to cast decent actors in the fifth installment of the popular franchise. Except for Krista Allen (What About Brian), I didn't know any of the actors in The Final Destination.
I've liked Arlen since I saw his guest appearance on Cold Case. I think he's a talented actor and believe me, you have to be good if you want your name to stick in my head after seeing you in one episode of a crime show. I was also hoping he wouldn't die in the Friday the 13th remake as he was one of the few likeable actors walking around. Nicholas D'Agosto impressed me with his performance in Fired Up. He could've been just another dumb jock in another dumb comedy, but that wasn't the case. I think he has Justin Long-ish potential.

Chad Donella
I like Chad Donella. Too bad most people don't know who he is. Chad was in the original Final Destination and he died horribly in the bathroom. Yes, remember him? He's a talented guy and I like seeing him pop up in movies and TV shows. I was watching Lost and I was more excited about seeing Chad for 5 seconds than about the rest of episode. Chad will return to the big screen soon, for the first time in ages, and he will probably be dying horribly again, but this time in Saw 3D.