The Final Destination (in 3-D)
– Two stars (out of four)
– Rated R for strong violent/gruesome accidents, language and a scene of sexuality.
– Who’s going to like it: fans of the previous FD flicks and the horror genre, people who want to see creative and gross deaths in the third dimension, and anyone needing to see a real horror movie after seeing H2
FD3D takes the kills above and beyond any other Destination and dimension
Ever since 2000, audiences have taken to the Final Destination movies. In each one, a group of youngsters cheats Death by acting opposite a premonition, only to have Death viciously hunt them down one by one in the order they were supposed to die. The resulting death is usually far more gruesome than the original Death had planned for them.
In Final Destination, the first of the series, a group of graduates exit a plane before take-off, preventing them from being on it as it explodes just off the runway. In Final Destination 2, a carload of friends take an off-ramp and survive a nasty highway wreck involving a logging truck. In Final Destination 3, several friends high-tail-it to avoid a tragic roller coaster accident. And in The Final Destination, a foursome of friends make it out of a NASCAR stadium previous to a killer accident that brings the mayhem into the stands.
Had The Final Destination not been filmed in 3-D, it still would be worth viewing. But the 3-D definitely adds a bit more fun to the moviegoing experience. As if the grizzly death sequences weren’t gross enough, seeing them in the third dimension makes them just a little bit grosser. There’s something about seeing intestines blasting towards you that feels ickier in 3-D. The same goes for flying tires that decapitate people. The 3-D is not so much a gimmick used for The Final Destination, but instead works as a medium to enhance the experience – and it works just fine.
Director David R. Ellis and writer Eric Bress are the only returning staff for FD3D. Both worked on FD2, which is arguably the most fun of the franchise. The only recognizable actor from FD3D, playing a secondary character, is Mykelti Williamson, most known as “Bubba” from Forrest Gump. Williamson plays the supposed-to-be-dead security guard that escorts the group out of the stands before the accident happens. Even though the primary characters are all unknown actors, they work; they are typical FD actors, meaning they’re not great actors, but they do just fine for a FD movie. The guys are either charming and/or good looking, and the girls even more so. That’s one thing you can expect from a good horror movie – good-looking people always looking great.
It didn’t take a premonition for me to realize that FD3D was going to be the fun horror movie out of the two being released this weekend (the other being Halloween II). Rob Zombie can’t even re-make a good classic movie. But Ellis and Bress have made a great fourth installment to a fun series. So let’s just hope The Final Destination is not really the final Destination flick.
Photo credit: New Line Cinema
