Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

Yeah I’ve been slacking off. It’s probably been 3 or 4 weeks since my last post, and longer than that for a post about a movie. In those last few weeks I’ve been a bit busy and had stuff in my mind that I was working through as well. Maybe I’ll get into that in another post, but I want to try to keep it more concise today. It’s Monday and the end of a long weekend for me before I go on-call for this coming week. I would say this was a pretty good and fun weekend, and much needed from a week where I felt I was just coasting on autopilot most of the time. Yesterday, I went out with friends to Pasadena, CA, as one of them stated, to get pizza and watch Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025). I assumed that the restaurant had to be a really good and famous pizza joint he wanted to try. It was only once we got in line at Prince St. Pizza in Pasadena that I realized what his true intentions were. Apparently there currently is a collab promotion between Prince St. Pizza and the recently released video game, Doom: The Dark Ages (2025). If you buy one slice of their new “Hellfire” pepperoni pizza, priced at $6.66 USD (cute), you’ll be given a code for a free month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate as well as a special skin for the Doom Slayer character. If you have a capable PC or an Xbox series console, this is actually a great deal since the regular price for one month of Game Pass Ultimate is $20. So a single slice of Hellfire pizza essentially gets you 1 month of access to play Doom TDA, as well as the other games available on Game Pass, and a slice of pretty good pizza for a third of the regular subscription price. I already bought Doom TDA and have subscribed to Game Pass in the past (the code only applies to new users) so the free month of Game Pass is worthless to me. Having the skin is neat I suppose. Speaking of Doom, I have been really enjoying my time with Doom TDA and may write about the modern trilogy as a whole at some point. 

Aside from getting pizza, we explored and visited other places before going to see the movie. Prior to arriving at Pasadena, we made a quick visit to Rhino Records in Montclair, CA since it was on the way. I didn’t peruse much of the music section this time around, but I was able to use $20 from my rewards points to get a good deal on 3 movies, including a film that I’ve been meaning to see, Presence (2025). In Pasadena, we walked around and took in the vibes of the downtown area. I went into an antique store and perused through their collection of watches and other timepieces. They had some interesting stuff, but I ultimately did get anything. If the store had some vintage “field-watches” then I might’ve considered a purchase. The antique store was located in this outdoor mini-mall of sorts that also included apartment housing for some reason. It seemed like there were probably a lot of vacant spaces in those apartments because the area seemed pretty quiet. Our movie theater of choice was located in this area too.

We went to see Final Destination: Bloodlines at the Regal Paseo theater in Pasadena. As I’m writing this, I realize that this may be the first Regal theater I’ve been to this year. If you’ve been reading my previous posts, you’re likely well familiar with the tried and true Cinemark 16 XD theater in Victorville (The Ciney), and the Victoria Gardens AMC theater in Rancho Cucamonga (The Vicky). There is a Regal theater “close” to me, the Regal Edwards Ontario Palace in Ontario, CA (The Eddy). I like going there to see more bombastic movies on the biggest screens, since The Eddy is one of the few true IMAX theaters around and the only one within reasonable distance to me. Anyhow the theater experience at Regal Paseo was great. The auditorium was small and we came so early that we had time to chat, prep our snacks and chill. Ooo boy we were chillin’, big chillin’ in fact as the seats in Regal Paseo may just be some of the best reclining seats I’ve ever sat on in a theater. Whether you’re in full recline for the big chill or locked tf in sitting up, the cushion and bolstering (particularly on the back of the seats) remain comfortable. Reclining the seat itself is smooth and quiet, they either must be new or well maintained. The food-tray/cup holder is also smooth and sturdy.

Some other people eventually took their seats in the auditorium, but I feel like our group of 5 was probably the loudest and most engaged with the movie. I feel a semi-rowdy audience like that is the best part of seeing a movie like FDB, but I guess I should actually talk about the movie so you can get my meaning. Before I get into that though, I saw quite a few new trailers before the movie. The post will be way longer if I cover each one, so I’ll just talk about the ones that were the most interesting or for movies I was already down to go see. First I got to see the full trailer for Megan 2.0 (2025) and not just the teaser this time. The movie looks more and more like a yassified Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) and I’m all here for it. The trailer for Predator: Badlands (2025) looks kinda cool and it would be interesting to see how they’ll follow up 2022’s Prey, which is my current favorite in the franchise. In addition, I also got to catch the full trailer for the upcoming horror movie Together (2025). I think I mentioned seeing the teaser in a previous post, nevertheless I am still excited for it. Lastly, F1 (2025) starring Brad Pitt looks to be a Dadcore racing movie, but the production design and cinematography are slick enough that I might just catch a showtime in the theater to see more. 

Final Destination: Bloodlines is apparently the 6th film in the franchise after Final Destination 5 released way back in 2011. The movie is directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, who seemed to have worked together previously on other projects. In addition, the movie is written by Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor, based on a story developed by John Watts. The movie follows Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana), a young college student who has been having nightmares of a deadly disaster in the 1960s. Stefani learns from her estranged grandmother Iris (Gabrielle Rose), who avoided said disaster thanks to a premonition, that Death is coming for Iris and each of her blood descendants as she should have never survived in the first place and it’s up to Stefani to learn how she can break the cycle. 

Prior to this, I had never seen any of the Final Destination movies, so FDB was my introduction to the franchise. I think I’ll just cut right to the chase and say that I had a great time watching this movie. With something like this, even if you’ve never seen any of the previous films, you likely know what you’re getting into. So, the one thing you would want is for the movie to be entertaining and fun, which I think FDB does serviceabley well. I thought the opening sequence on the high-rise restaurant tower was a good over the top introduction to the movie. The follow-up death sequences were entertaining in their own right, but don’t quite reach the literal heights of the movie’s opening. Performances were generally adequate; for a movie like this, I don’t really come in expecting powerhouse performances and no one really stood out with one exception. The late Tony Todd, who unfortunately passed away at 69 last year, has a short but sweet scene in the middle of the film as William Bludworth. Apparently, Bludworth is the most prolific recurring character in the Final Destination franchise and FDB explores his backstory. This being my first FD movie, I didn’t really know that while watching, but in retrospect I’m glad to see Tony Todd close the book on the character before he passed on. In terms of negatives, I suppose you can say that the CGI effects were kinda hokey, but for a movie like this I feel it adds to the charm. In addition, the movie runs at close to 2 hours, which is a little long for what it is. I feel like the movie itself acknowledged that it was running long, considering how abrupt the ending felt. It’s kinda the same feeling as building up for a big sneeze, only for nothing to really come out.   

Ultimately, I’ll give Final Destination: Bloodlines a Best Movie Ever. The movie does its job and entertains. It’s great to watch among a group of friends, but likely not something you’d come back to unless you’re planning on marathoning the franchise or something. I currently don’t have any desire to watch the previous films, but maybe one day I’ll sit down with friends and watch a couple. To compare it to other movies I've seen this year, I would say that The Monkey (2025) is probably the better movie with stronger comedic elements and an even goofier premise. That’s about all to write for today. I have thoughts on other things and I did see Casino Royale (2006) for the first time earlier this week, but I think I’ll just chill and enjoy the rest of my day before going into work tomorrow. Have a good one.