The Final Destination

Starring: Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten, Nick Zano, Haley Webb, Mykelti Williamson, Krista Allen
Directed by: David R. Ellis
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery
2009

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: At a stock car race, a teenager (Bobby Campo) has a vision of a horrible crash. He immediately exits the stadium with a small group. The crash happens as he saw it- they cheat death. Now, Death is determined to bring them to the end they were supposed to have met.

Review:
Tim: I actually enjoyed the first three Final Destination movies more than I expected. They were different, unique, and exciting. The third film was the first time I felt like the quality had dropped, so I entered this movie cautiously optimistic. I hoped for the best- for this franchise to capture some of that surprising magic that came with the previous films. I did fear, however, that the franchise had been extended too far. Sadly, my fears proved accurate. This is the worst film of the franchise, and not a very good one at all.

Originally, I loved having Death itself as the villain. How could you battle Death? That was a great concept, and I was excited to see it explored on screen. However, over the previous films, Death seems to have changed his ways. He can now, apparently, physically move objects into the perfect position to create these elaborate, complex death sequences. While those are fun to see, they have been pushed to the limits- past the point where they make sense at all. It is just so silly- Death could choose dozens of simpler, more efficient ways to kill someone. Why would it choose these complex, crazy ways? It just does not make any logical sense.

The cast is pretty disappointing. The previous films typically had at least one recognizable face. This film's biggest star is Mykelti Williamson. Now, I love Williamson, but if he's the most recognized, famous actor in your cast, then something is clearly wrong. The cast give decent performances, but they are all completely forgettable. There's no one here that does anything of any real importance or anything memorable. The cast is weak.

Now, this movie isn't all bad. It is still fun to watch these elaborate death sequences- they are stupid because they defy logic, but it's still fun to watch what the writers were able to come up with for the film. This movie is pretty gruesome, and really deserved its R rating. Now, I do need to mention the 3D. This film was released in theaters in 3D. Not the good, Avatar type, but the crappy gimmicky kind. I watched the film in 2D, and the 3D scenes (which are very apparent) look terrible without that added dimension. It just feels like a gigantic ploy to get more money out of the audience. There's no redeeming quality to the 3D. It adds nothing, and it makes the film look stupid on screen. This was a bad move.

I've always been kind to the Final Destination franchise. However, The Final Destination (stupid title, by the way) is the point where I give up. I just don't want to see any more of these movies. The franchise got four films out of the same story, which I think it is a win for the creators. However, it's time to move on to something else. I know horror movies have a terrible reputation of coming back, even after "final" installments. Please let this be the last film in the franchise. Please.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Final Destination, Final Destination 2, Final Destination 3