Time for another of my Public Service Announcements...
Let me first give you a timeline about where I stand with the "Final Destination" films.
Final Destination has a very special place in my heart because it was one of the very few films that actually got me to jump in an impact moment. The out-of-the-blue bus hit that has since been overdone and parodied to death by films. But I'm not ashamed to admit that it gave me a jolt when I first saw it, and I'm the type of person that people sitting next to are tempted to check for a pulse during a horror film. (Well, at least until I start chuckling at inappropriate moments.)
Final Destination 2 also gets major kudos from me for having what I consider one of the best multi-car crash sequences onscreen. When I first saw this one, I knew how to look for clues on how the characters were going to bite the dust and had a grand time trying to figure them out before it happened.
Final Destination 3 disappointed me after the obligatory disaster opening, this time on a roller coaster. When they brought in a camera that takes premonition photos (The Omen, anyone?) I disliked it because the photos gave way too much information for me to play my game of figuring out the spin on the deaths. Maybe I got a little jaded with the FD formula, but they did at least try to put in some misdirection.
And now... there's this fourth film. Honestly, the only thing that prompted me to want to see it in the cinema is because it was in 3D and I've never been disappointed with the opening disaster sequence in a Final Destination film.
That is, until now.
I'd like to strangle whoever decided to go with a race car accident. After such a beautiful job they did with FD2, I was concerned that they'd not be able to top that kind of multiple-death-by-vehicles. Sadly, I was right.
But even more upsetting, it's not even a challenge for me anymore. They gave the lead character a sort of psychic ability to give clues on the deaths. To be frank, the only way it could have been worse is if they stopped the action and then have some bloke with a chalkboard explain to the audience exactly what was going to happen before each scene. (Well, either that or just passing out copies of the script along with the 3D glasses.)
If I can take one look at a character's surroundings and then turn to Garith and say "pasta maker" a few minutes before anything nasty happens...than the Final Destination team is really dropping the ball. The film was so dumbed down that I was having a hard time getting through it.
Could the 3D have saved it? Maybe, if they would have utilized the technology. Instead, a good 95% of it was things coming straight at you... which meant you could literally see death coming a mile away. I wasn't terribly impressed with it at all, and thought there was a lot that could have been done to invoke the element of surprise that the first couple films did so well in 2D.
Oh, and you could create a drinking game with all the references to "180".
I can't recommend this film with a good conscience. Not even in 3D.
Info on IMDB: The Final Destination
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