Gone Gonzo Posts: 1195 Joined: 31 Jul 2008 | Note: Upfront, the best part of seeing this movie is the 3-D full length trailer for Avatar that comes before it. It almost reminds me of how people saw Meet Joe Black in 1998 just to watch the trailer for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, or at least it would have if more people in the audience were as elated for it as I was.
The Final Destination 3-D
While many film franchises are formulaic, few are as cut and dry as the Final Destination movies. After three instalments in a series built around the premise that "you can't cheat death," The Final Destination 3-D (emphasis on the definite article that allegedly indicates either a reboot or conclusion) becomes the fourth entry to follow the formula established in the first film with surgical precision. All four films begin with a vivid precognition of a horrific accident, feature broad sketches of characters from typical horror fare, and predictably hit every major plot point as set by the first movie from 2000. Although the cast and characters always change, continuity and clever scripting has never been the big draw for these films. What anyone in attendance for a Final Destination screening has ever been hoping to see are clever deathtraps dispatching human crash test dummies. Yet while death by twisted happenstance provides a nice change from the typical death by masked neglected golem, even the most creative of wells can run dry. After nine years and four films, the Final Destination franchise has sunk into a nadir that not even the 3-D rebirth can remedy.
Nick and his friends are enjoying an idyllic day at the races when he begins to question the safety of where he is sitting. The benches crack and buckle, the concrete superstructure is beginning to crumble, and the fences protecting the spectators from errant scrap metal are fraught with loose screws. Before he has a chance to rise from his seat and take a breather, a screwdriver finds its way onto the racetrack and causes a catastrophic crash that sends tires, shrapnel, and even whole cars hurdling towards the audience in a firestorm of death and destruction. People are burned alive, sliced in half, crushed, decapitated, and poor Nick winds up impaled on a piece of pipe. Lucky for him, however, the entire ordeal was merely a premonition. When the circumstances leading up to how he imagined the disaster begin to occur, he heeds the warning and ferries his friends to safety. Having cheated death, Nick thinks he's in the clear. But when survivors of the tragedy begin dying in freak accidents in the order Nick foresaw their demise at the race track, Nick worries that he and his friends could wind up dead at any moment and races to stay one step ahead of the deadly unforeseen malevolence.
 Believe it or not, what you've just read regarding the plot is far more than what The Final Destination ever cares to reveal. Four films into a franchise should be the milestone that sparks experimentation, whether it's to prevent stagnation or to capture the attention that the previous movies failed to ensnare (more likely the latter reason for this particular franchise). Unfortunately, The Final Destination is more concerned with pursuing a new dimension rather than a new direction. Yes, The Final Destination stands alongside My Bloody Valentine in ushering in the 3-D horror renaissance. Both movies flaunt the sex and gore staples of the typical teen slasher, further amplified by the rendering of every startling jolt in pseudo-tangibility. But while My Bloody Valentine offered 3-D as a compensation for story, plot, and character deficiency, The Final Destination sees the gimmick worthy of a substitution. "We stayed up all night googling premonitions," quips Lori (Nick's girlfriend) as if that's all that needed to be said on the subject. The obligation for all sequels to reference the Flight 180 disaster from the first instalment released in 2000 is loosely established in a later exchange, and that's the extent of this film's exposition.
I'd normally consider such immediacy laudable, but the core theme of the franchise isn't the only thing that's glossed over. Even the characters are reduced to bland stock, a truly detestable decision since its entirely deliberate and not due to ineptitude with characterization. This film's director and screenwriter, David R. Ellis and Jeffery Reddick respectively, also served on the first sequel released in 2003, at the time writing characters that are a cut above what's expected in typical horror fare. In that film, relationships were established and the audience had a vested interest in who they'd like to see survive or die by means of falling construction equipment. With The Final Destination, however, every character is just one flat sour note. Nick is the well-to-do seer, Lori his peppy girlfriend, Janet her shrill best friend, and Hunt is Janet's jock of a boyfriend. Also on the chopping block is the sage-like older black fellow, his racist tow-truck driving adversary, and the MILF (that's exactly what actress Krista Allen's character is referred to when the end credits roll). No character is memorable, well portrayed, rudimentarily fleshed out, or even likeable. There isn't even a cynical undercurrent to writing such loathsome players in order to inspire the audience to cheer for ironic elimination. Just stick the boring lot in harm's way and let the blood flow is the philosophy at play.
The sunroof.
Because opening the door and walking away makes too much sense for teen horror.
It's been remarked that the only character worthy of note in the Final Destination franchise is Death, who's generally manifested as a trickster wind agitating precariously perched objects that turn an otherwise random collection of knickknacks into a Rube Goldberg like deathtrap. Considering this, the real appeal of the Final Destination was never so much the blood and gore as it was the fact that the character onscreen could wind up dead at any moment from anything. A relentless omnipresent malevolence playing the antagonist is far more effective at creating a thick atmosphere of dread than a cookie-cutter psychopath armed with a kitchen knife. And while I can admire the horror movie that is able to create a truly terrifying scenario in broad daylight, The Final Destination resolves to shoot itself in the foot by giving the audience clues as to how the next unlucky sap is going to bite the bullet. Whenever disaster is about to strike, Nick suffers a brief acid trip that lets us know exactly what to be wary of, be it a man with a cigarette or a shiny quarter. Where's the terror in knowing what to expect next? There are times when the movie throws a curveball and tries to lead us astray, but in those instances one must wonder what's being undermined more: the premise, or the terror.
Barring the leading character's dread sabotaging hot flashes, the worst part of The Final Destination is how uninspired the entire movie is. Truth be told, this instalment is more of a greatest hits collection than a brand new entry in a series. All the highest points of the movie are essentially slightly reworked sequences from the second and third instalments with a more loathsome cast in substitution. A couple of characters are cut into large chunks, an immobilized person dies in their hospital room, a nail-gun becomes self-aware, and the silent bus strikes again. The only remarkable thing is how it took only four horror films prominently featuring the "you can't cheat death" motif, all within the same franchise, to wear out an otherwise novel concept. Has the Rube Goldberg deathtrap really been reduced to the careless storage of inflammables and combustibles that can tip and spill at the slightest provocation? Death just doesn't seem into it anymore.
In case you're wondering, no, the 3-D does not add to the movie in any significant way. If all you're going to use the technology for is throwing objects very suddenly at the camera, you might as well not bother. |
Copy Clerk Posts: 63 Joined: 19 May 2009 | I didn't see the movie but the car looks like it's sinking in water so the pressure may have made the the doors stuck. If not then wtf are they doing??? Good review. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1178 Joined: 11 Nov 2008 | Reading this, I see that everything that I thought would be wrong with the movie is wrong with it (and then some). Part of me still wants to see it, though, because a bad movie can be better than no movie at all. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 3370 Joined: 11 Mar 2009 | Regarding the car wash scene...
It's as fucking ridiculous as it sounds.
That's my biggest problem with this one. The others were, as far fetched as they were, rooted in reality. A plane crash worked, because you couldn't escape it. The car crash worked, because I can attest first hand that pile-ups are a bitch. Even the roller coaster worked, because you're sort of trapped on it. But in this case, cars keep exploding a good minute after it starts. It just felt like they were forcing it rather than thriving on the chaos.
And both this one and 2 briefly touch on what I think would be worthy of a movie in of itself: someone tries to kill themselves, but are essentially invincible. How cool an idea would that be? In the commentary for 2 they briefly mentioned how one idea for a sequel was Alex becoming a extreme sports athlete knowing he can't die. That's ridiculous, it's cheesy, and it would be a far more original movie than this was.
One was great, 2 was excellent, 3 was shit, this one is best forgotten.
Though I should say I did like the little nods to the past movies (the crane, the nail gun, etc.) and the opening credit sequence is awesome. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1195 Joined: 31 Jul 2008 | WanderFreak:
Regarding the car wash scene...
It's as fucking ridiculous as it sounds.
I meant to touch on how the opening disaster sequence pales in comparison to the other three films, but I felt that I wrote too much for this one as it stands. It's really quite awful.
Aside: I've been meaning to put in a request for a Ranty Review. Have you heard of/seen Miss March? It's far and away the worst movie of 2009 so far, and something begging for that sort of treatment. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 3370 Joined: 11 Mar 2009 | One thing, and this is purely fan wank, I thought they missed out on was a great opportunity to connect all four: the homeless guy who shows up just before the final disaster should have been played by Tony Todd. He's been in all three (the mortician in the first two, and the voice of the roller coaster devil in the third) and people involved with the franchise have sort of jokingly mentioned that he's the personification of death, that would have been great.
The more I think about it, the more I think this one feels like it was cranked out fairly quickly, probably to capitalize on the 3D aspect more than anything. There are so many little things they could have tweaked to connect it to the past ones, and so many ideas that were either re-referenced or forgotten, it just feels sloppy more than anything.
Maet:
(I've been meaning to put in a request for a Ranty Review. Have you heard of/seen Miss March? It's far and away the worst movie of 2009 so far, and something begging for that sort of treatment.)
Oh God I saw the trailer for that and I think it gave me diabetes. I'll see what I can do. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1175 Joined: 13 Nov 2007 | |
Anonymous Source Posts: 2 Joined: 3 Oct 2009 | Well maybe it's 'cause i work on a cinema (Actually i'm the one who loads the movie), but i think the film it's brilliant. Don't get me wrong the Overuse of CGI it's unforgivable, and the acting is cheesy, but i think this installement separates from the others 'cause in previous movies the Death can make mistakes or windows so the person CAN live a little longer. In this one the DEATH has learned, and prevent the characters from helping others. The carwash doesn't count as Janet being shorter was going to die after Hunt (so it wasn't really her turn to die)
The best by far is the Homeless man, that everyone says it's an under-developed character, i say... it was well played... He didn't actually kill, he prevents one "save", and provides a glimpse of how he was going to kill another one... and right in the end... When he Congratulates Nick i feel... like he is triying to tell him "You saved a bunch of people FOR NOW" (the ones that didn't Die when the Theather Blowed-up)so it's like he got to kill them too.
Tell me if anyone shares that final thought.
How awesome would have been if they had used the number 180 on the theather, Dunno room capacity, a movie tittle etc. They ruined a really big chance of giving the movie that.. "It's not over" feeling, and would had been a great ending to the saga |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 2893 Joined: 6 Mar 2008 | One thing that always intrigued me about these movies: the nature of the premonitions. Why do they occur? Is there some metaphysical force that doesn't want the characters to die for some reason? Or maybe it's actually Death, just fucking with them for it's own demented pleasure, falsely leading them to believe that they can escape it's embrace. It would be interesting if they explored this aspect more. |
Anonymous Source Posts: 2 Joined: 3 Oct 2009 | @ThaBenMan
I think it's due "The Death" touch the Person. On the racetrack, Nick feels that something just touched him and then the accident happens. That's my interpretation anyway |
On the Record Posts: 7011 Joined: 31 Dec 2008 | Great review. I still enjoyed this movie alot, something about the immense level of violence and stupidity. Its like Freddy vs Jason |
Infamous Scribbler Posts: 543 Joined: 27 Sep 2009 | At least at this one, there are some pretty good deaths. Like when someone gets hit by a bus. It's a lot better then 3. (oh god, that was bad), but its not as good as 2. (average) |
Pulitzer Laureate Posts: 712 Joined: 13 Mar 2008 | at least 3 had sudden philosophising
The is a true POS in my book :( |
Note: Upfront, the best part of seeing this movie is the 3-D full length trailer for Avatar that comes before it. It almost reminds me of how people saw Meet Joe Black in 1998 just to watch the trailer for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, or at least it would have if more people in the audience were as elated for it as I was.
The Final Destination 3-D
While many film franchises are formulaic, few are as cut and dry as the Final Destination movies. After three instalments in a series built around the premise that "you can't cheat death," The Final Destination 3-D (emphasis on the definite article that allegedly indicates either a reboot or conclusion) becomes the fourth entry to follow the formula established in the first film with surgical precision. All four films begin with a vivid precognition of a horrific accident, feature broad sketches of characters from typical horror fare, and predictably hit every major plot point as set by the first movie from 2000. Although the cast and characters always change, continuity and clever scripting has never been the big draw for these films. What anyone in attendance for a Final Destination screening has ever been hoping to see are clever deathtraps dispatching human crash test dummies. Yet while death by twisted happenstance provides a nice change from the typical death by masked neglected golem, even the most creative of wells can run dry. After nine years and four films, the Final Destination franchise has sunk into a nadir that not even the 3-D rebirth can remedy.
Nick and his friends are enjoying an idyllic day at the races when he begins to question the safety of where he is sitting. The benches crack and buckle, the concrete superstructure is beginning to crumble, and the fences protecting the spectators from errant scrap metal are fraught with loose screws. Before he has a chance to rise from his seat and take a breather, a screwdriver finds its way onto the racetrack and causes a catastrophic crash that sends tires, shrapnel, and even whole cars hurdling towards the audience in a firestorm of death and destruction. People are burned alive, sliced in half, crushed, decapitated, and poor Nick winds up impaled on a piece of pipe. Lucky for him, however, the entire ordeal was merely a premonition. When the circumstances leading up to how he imagined the disaster begin to occur, he heeds the warning and ferries his friends to safety. Having cheated death, Nick thinks he's in the clear. But when survivors of the tragedy begin dying in freak accidents in the order Nick foresaw their demise at the race track, Nick worries that he and his friends could wind up dead at any moment and races to stay one step ahead of the deadly unforeseen malevolence.
Believe it or not, what you've just read regarding the plot is far more than what The Final Destination ever cares to reveal. Four films into a franchise should be the milestone that sparks experimentation, whether it's to prevent stagnation or to capture the attention that the previous movies failed to ensnare (more likely the latter reason for this particular franchise). Unfortunately, The Final Destination is more concerned with pursuing a new dimension rather than a new direction. Yes, The Final Destination stands alongside My Bloody Valentine in ushering in the 3-D horror renaissance. Both movies flaunt the sex and gore staples of the typical teen slasher, further amplified by the rendering of every startling jolt in pseudo-tangibility. But while My Bloody Valentine offered 3-D as a compensation for story, plot, and character deficiency, The Final Destination sees the gimmick worthy of a substitution. "We stayed up all night googling premonitions," quips Lori (Nick's girlfriend) as if that's all that needed to be said on the subject. The obligation for all sequels to reference the Flight 180 disaster from the first instalment released in 2000 is loosely established in a later exchange, and that's the extent of this film's exposition.
I'd normally consider such immediacy laudable, but the core theme of the franchise isn't the only thing that's glossed over. Even the characters are reduced to bland stock, a truly detestable decision since its entirely deliberate and not due to ineptitude with characterization. This film's director and screenwriter, David R. Ellis and Jeffery Reddick respectively, also served on the first sequel released in 2003, at the time writing characters that are a cut above what's expected in typical horror fare. In that film, relationships were established and the audience had a vested interest in who they'd like to see survive or die by means of falling construction equipment. With The Final Destination, however, every character is just one flat sour note. Nick is the well-to-do seer, Lori his peppy girlfriend, Janet her shrill best friend, and Hunt is Janet's jock of a boyfriend. Also on the chopping block is the sage-like older black fellow, his racist tow-truck driving adversary, and the MILF (that's exactly what actress Krista Allen's character is referred to when the end credits roll). No character is memorable, well portrayed, rudimentarily fleshed out, or even likeable. There isn't even a cynical undercurrent to writing such loathsome players in order to inspire the audience to cheer for ironic elimination. Just stick the boring lot in harm's way and let the blood flow is the philosophy at play.
Because opening the door and walking away makes too much sense for teen horror.
It's been remarked that the only character worthy of note in the Final Destination franchise is Death, who's generally manifested as a trickster wind agitating precariously perched objects that turn an otherwise random collection of knickknacks into a Rube Goldberg like deathtrap. Considering this, the real appeal of the Final Destination was never so much the blood and gore as it was the fact that the character onscreen could wind up dead at any moment from anything. A relentless omnipresent malevolence playing the antagonist is far more effective at creating a thick atmosphere of dread than a cookie-cutter psychopath armed with a kitchen knife. And while I can admire the horror movie that is able to create a truly terrifying scenario in broad daylight, The Final Destination resolves to shoot itself in the foot by giving the audience clues as to how the next unlucky sap is going to bite the bullet. Whenever disaster is about to strike, Nick suffers a brief acid trip that lets us know exactly what to be wary of, be it a man with a cigarette or a shiny quarter. Where's the terror in knowing what to expect next? There are times when the movie throws a curveball and tries to lead us astray, but in those instances one must wonder what's being undermined more: the premise, or the terror.
Barring the leading character's dread sabotaging hot flashes, the worst part of The Final Destination is how uninspired the entire movie is. Truth be told, this instalment is more of a greatest hits collection than a brand new entry in a series. All the highest points of the movie are essentially slightly reworked sequences from the second and third instalments with a more loathsome cast in substitution. A couple of characters are cut into large chunks, an immobilized person dies in their hospital room, a nail-gun becomes self-aware, and the silent bus strikes again. The only remarkable thing is how it took only four horror films prominently featuring the "you can't cheat death" motif, all within the same franchise, to wear out an otherwise novel concept. Has the Rube Goldberg deathtrap really been reduced to the careless storage of inflammables and combustibles that can tip and spill at the slightest provocation? Death just doesn't seem into it anymore.
In case you're wondering, no, the 3-D does not add to the movie in any significant way. If all you're going to use the technology for is throwing objects very suddenly at the camera, you might as well not bother.