In the Final Destination movies, a member of a group of teens has a premonition that allows the group to survive a tragic accident that would have otherwise killed them all.
Death ain’t too happy about this, so he starts picking them off one-by-one using Rube Goldberg-like devices that usually involve sharp and blunt instruments acting in tandem on their own volition. There’s four of these movies now, each nearly the same as the last – they’re not really sequels but remakes, with little chronological significance between them.
None of these films have been much good; I didn’t care for the first or third (both directed by James Wong), but the second (from David R. Ellis) had an appropriately campy tone and the best sequence in any of the films, a massive highway pileup.
Ellis has returned to direct for the awkwardly titled The Final Destination, which is the weakest in the series in terms of plot and character but precisely delivers what the core audience is looking for: two-thirds of the running time here seems to be devoted to watching the elaborate, overly-complicated (if not particularly inventive) death traps unfold. And it’s all in 3D.
The film starts off at McKinley Speedway: teens Nick (Bobby Campo), Lori (Shantel VanSanten), Hunt (Nick Zano), and Janet (Haley Webb) are watching a race, when tragedy strikes: a rogue screwdriver causes a massive accident, sending cars and auto parts into the stands, which begin to collapse and kill them all.
It’s entirely implausible, and looks ridiculous in action, but that’s part of the fun. But wait! It was all or dream, or premonition, by Nick: he returns to his senses before the crash happens, and rustles his friends and a few other stragglers out of the track, sparing their lives when tragedy inevitably strikes.
So now, death has to kill them, one-by-one, in the order that they were supposed to die, using ridiculously complicated methods. As they’re picked off, they try to plan how to cheat death and survive. But after four of these movies, I’m not so sure how the rules work, and I don’t think the filmmakers are either. But nevermind the plot; it’s purely a background detail.
Watch! A ceiling fan slowly unhinges! Hand lotion is spilled onto the floor! A cold drink forms moisture! A bottle of hairspray slowly makes its way across the table! And the scissors – well, they just sit there menacingly, waiting for the right time to strike. Watching The Final Destination is like watching some Rube Goldberg videos on YouTube, except at the end, somebody dies.
And yet, I was surprised at how well these scenes mange to sustain interest, if not a mild level of suspense. They just work: as the devices are unfolding, it’s almost as if you’re watching a documentary on how so many things can go so terribly wrong.
At a beauty salon, a swimming pool, or (my favorite) a car wash. Ellis brings the same campy tone here that befit the second film in the series, which is appreciated. This is, ultimately, more comedy than horror. Most everything else is subpar, from poor CGI to bland cinematography to poor acting.
The 3D, however, is entirely competent. It’s best in the early scenes at the racetrack, with cars zooming by us and objects flying at us, and there’s a sense of depth throughout the film.
It’s a notch below the work on My Bloody Valentine 3D, however – I felt true dimensionality in some scenes there. Here, we usually just have sharp actors and objects in the foreground set against an unfocused background. Knock off at least half a star from my rating if you see this in 2D.
