Unlike, say, the “Fast & Furious” movies with their nonsensical naming conventions, the “Final Destination” franchise is pretty straightforward. The right way to watch the movies is chronologically.
“Final Destination” (2000)
“Final Destination 2” (2003)
“Final Destination 3” (2006)
“The Final Destination” (2009)
“Final Destination 5” (2011)
The first “Final Destination” follows Alex Browning (Devon Sawa), a teenager who has a premonition of a plane explosion and manages to save himself and several of his classmates before his vision comes to pass — until Death starts coming after those who were meant to die on the plane.
In “Final Destination 2,” a woman cheats death after having a premonition of a highway pile-up until the survivors start dying off. In the third one, it’s a roller coaster disaster, while “The Final Destination” features a stock car race that kills all but the person with a premonition and those who freak out and exit just in time. The final film in the franchise (for now) has a suspension bridge collapse as its initial disaster, and a shocking twist ending that you’ll never see coming.