The Couch Critic
The Couch Critic is your laid-back guide to movies and TV shows that deserve your attention—or maybe don’t. Nathan dives deep into storytelling, character development, and cinematic style with a sharp eye and a wry sense of humor. Whether it’s a blockbuster hit, a hidden gem, or a cult classic, Nathan’s relatable approach ensures every episode feels like a cozy chat with a friend who just happens to love film. Perfect for casual watchers and cinephiles alike, The Couch Critic brings thoughtful critique without the fluff. Grab your favorite snack, settle in, and let Nathan guide you through the world of screen entertainment.
The Couch Critic
When Premonitions Skip Generations: Is Final Destination Still Worth It?
Death has a new bloodline, and after 14 years, the Final Destination franchise returns with a twist that attempts to tie the entire series together. What happens when a grandmother who cheated death in the 1950s passes her visions to her granddaughter decades later? The answer stretches the already flexible logic of this horror franchise to new limits.
"Final Destination: Bloodlines" breaks new ground by connecting generations through death's design. Beginning with a lengthy premonition sequence in a 1950s skyscraper, we soon discover that the granddaughter of the original survivor has been experiencing dreams of her grandmother's vision. The revelation that grandma's decades-long evasion of death somehow triggered the events of all previous Final Destination films creates an ambitious mythology that not everyone will find convincing. The film asks viewers to accept significant leaps in logic that even devoted fans might struggle to embrace.
The highlight of this sixth installment is unquestionably Tony Todd's return. Filmed during his battle with cancer shortly before his 2024 passing, Todd's performance carries profound emotional weight. His character's dialogue parallels his real-life circumstances in ways that transcend the film itself, creating genuinely poignant moments amidst the characteristic over-the-top death sequences that have become the franchise's calling card. Most of these elaborate fatalities inspire more laughter than terror, with only one sequence achieving truly disturbing impact. Despite its flaws, the film earns a respectable 3.5/5 for its ambitious concepts and Todd's meaningful farewell performance. Whether you're a longtime fan or newcomer, join me in examining what works and what doesn't in this latest chapter of cinema's most deterministic horror franchise.
The weekend's here. It's time to unwind. Grab your snacks, leave the week behind. Blockbusters classics, they're all on the way. Let's kick it off with Cinema Saturdays.
Speaker 2:Hey everybody, welcome to another Cinema Saturday episode of the Couch Critic. I am your host, nathan, and on today's episode I'm taking on the sixth movie in the Final Destination franchise. I'm taking on Final Destination Bloodlines. So if you don't know what the Final Destination movies are, go listen to last Saturday's Cinema Saturday episode, because I don't feel like rehashing what these movies are all about. I did think this movie took it in an interesting direction. So just letting you know now. Spoiler alert, spoiler alert.
Speaker 2:So this movie starts in the typical Final Destination manner, but it starts basically like in the 50s. It has that 50s feel to it and this girl and her boyfriend go to this party in a giant skyscraper and she gets a premonition that they're going to die and so they leave and you know the rest. But when they show the premonition, you know they do the eye thing and they suck back into the person that had the vision. Well, they go to present day. That's right. They go to the granddaughter of the woman who had the premonition at the beginning of the movie. Now I will say the premonition at the beginning was a lot longer than I've seen in previous Final Destination movies. It could be because this is this has been 11 years or 14 years, I think 14 years since the last Final Dest movie. So they're kind of letting people who may not be familiar with these movies give them a feel of what they should be expecting, and so that's why this beginning of the movie was a little bit longer. But, like I said, instead of showing that the girl had the premonition, you actually come to find out that the granddaughter has been having dreams about this premonition and she doesn't understand why. And so she goes to her family who tell her to stay away from the grandmother because she's a crazy person who has shut herself off from the world, person who has shut herself off from the world. So you find out that because she did that that's why all these other people in the previous final destination movies have died, because she has dodged death for so many years that she was able to pass it on to other people who have died.
Speaker 2:I gotta tell you a lot of people are saying this movie's great. A lot of people are saying this movie is the best one in the franchise. I gotta say this movie really made you take a big leap on how in the world was she able to avoid death for so long. I don't, I don't understand it, I don't get it, I don't agree with it. It, it, it, just. It defies all logic that there could have been from all the other previous movies. Now these movies already were asking you to bend logic and you know use. But this movie I don't know.
Speaker 2:And the only saving grace was what I said last week was that Tony Todd came back one final time. He did pass away in 2024. So he filmed this probably really close to his death, and it was really sad seeing him in this, because you could tell that he had cancer and so he was super skinny, he looked super weak. But the fact that he it's kind of like the Chadwick Boseman thing, even though you couldn't really tell as much with Chadwick Boseman, but he still did his work for his fans because he had, he had a love for his fans, and Tony Todd did too, and so that's why he did this, despite the fact he was battling cancer, and his lines were very poignant as to what was going on with him in real life, and so I thought that was really nice. I did get somewhat emotional because, again, I knew that was his final time on screen and he did it, doing what he loved to do for the people that he loved. So I honor that and I appreciate that.
Speaker 2:But this movie was I'm not going to say it wasn't good, because it did have moments that it was somewhat interesting and it did add more interestingness to the lore of Final Destination. I did think one thing they did was clever, because in the trailers they showed something that you thought was going to happen to one of the characters and then you go into the movie and that's not what happens and they explain it in a way that was really really cool and interesting. I'm not going to say much because if you want to watch it I don't want to spoil too much, but I did think it was. I thought it was an interesting movie. I did not think it was that great.
Speaker 2:Another thing I will say, just like I said last time when I said that these movies started to become like the Saul movies and how it wasn't about storyline, it was more about how the people died. I think this one did a good job at balancing the storyline aspect of it but at the same time the way that people died just looked silly. It wasn't even the fact that it was gruesome, gross, it was more like that was silly and you couldn't help but laugh after each one. There was one that I genuinely thought was really disturbing and gross, but the other ones I just laughed at and so did the people in the audience. It's just over the top at times and I guess some people like that you know they have those really over the top gore movies that are out there that apparently do really, really well, because people are just really really disturbing I guess, really disturbing I guess. But this movie it was okay.
Speaker 2:I'm not going to say it was the best, I still think out of all the ones that kind of tied together all the originals and stuff, I think Final Destination 5. I know I gave 3 the top spot last time but I think 5 did it the best. I just liked the rollercoaster thing in 3. That's why I gave 3 the top spot last time. But I think five did did it the best. I just liked the roller coaster thing in three. That's why I gave three the top spot. But I think final destination did a better job at tying everything together.
Speaker 2:And again, this movie isn't bad. It just broke the rules a lot with the Final Destination lore and at the end of the day, these movies end up being pointless because you get so attached to the main characters. And then this is a major spoiler, so I am going to spoil it. Sorry, if you haven't seen it, stop the podcast. Now. They just kill the lead people at the end of the movie and they do that every single movie and you think, well, maybe this is the one where they're going to finally cheat death. But they don't. They don't do it and you think you think that they do. And then there's some character says, well, that didn't really happen, and then they end up dying. It was very frustrating and I don't know if that's a good thing, like they want you to care about the character so much that you do get frustrated. I don't know. But that's all my thoughts on Final Destination Bloodlines. I'm going to give it a 3.5 out of 5.
Speaker 2:I thought the gore was a little too over the top. I thought they stretched the already stretchable logic of Final Destination, making us try to believe that this old woman survived so many years and all these other people died, and now she was like, oh, and now I have cancer. So now death is after me, slowly, what? Yeah, I, and apparently that's what tony todd's character was going through too, because I did think it was interesting that they tied his character to the grandma, like she saved him in that skyscraper, and so that's who he's been the entire time. But and but that doesn't make any sense how he was able to evade death for so long, right, yeah, I don't know. I always thought that he was supposed to be like death personified, like he was supposed to be somehow connected to death itself, but they didn't go that way. So 3.5 out of 5 for final destination bloodlines.
Speaker 2:This is cinema saturday. For this saturday I'm ending the month, next saturday, diving right into the summer. Movie blockbusters with the live action lilo and stitch I'm actually pretty excited about it. I know there are going to be things. Movie blockbusters with the live action Lilo and Stitch I'm actually pretty excited about it. I know there are going to be things that I'm not going to like about it already, just from what I've seen from the trailer, but other than that, I'm excited for that one. And then this Tuesday coming up, you can listen to Katie and I talk about the Albert Finney adaptation of A Christmas Carol on the Couch Critic, where every movie gets its close up.
Speaker 1:So grab a seat, let the credits play. We'll see you next for Cinema Saturdays.
