The Final Destination is the forth in the horror franchise and the second to be helmed by David R Ellis (who directed Part 2 and Snakes on a Plane). Rather like Part 3, this is the dictionary definition of horror franchise by numbers. There's no cleverness or variation in the script structure from previous installments. Nothing is added to the franchise mythology. Just teens surviving slaughter due to mysterious preminition...then brutal death in the order they should have died originally.
While the deaths aren't as playful or as drawn out as Part 2, my favorite of the series, they are gory, inventive and very very violent. Nobody in the cast can fill the lovliness vacated by The Winstead in Part 3. So you have Bobby Campo (doing a dull James Franco impression), the marvelously wooden Shantel VanSanten as his girlfriend and a Sean William Scott/Stiffler-esque performance from Nick Zano.
This does exactly what it says on the tin. It gains points for pushing the death scenes to the fore in glorious digital 3D...as well as the best opening title sequence of the year as we see slow motion, X-ray versions of the previous franchise deaths. Nice.
3 comments:
This was perfectly acceptable grisly fun. A decent addition to the franchise.
Personally I think the first two FD films are by far the best. The first because it originated the idea and had a great cast and played the story pretty straight and serious. It also has what remains the single best death in the entire franchise - and one of the best in movie history. You know the one...girl + bus = splat. The shock value of that on first viewing was incredible. The audience was buzzing.
FD2 plays up the grisly humour while having fun with even more outrageously convoluted death traps and misdirection. It is also very gory. My second favourite death in the series is here: man's face + plunging fire escape = no face. Yuck!
FD3 was a pretty much a by the numbers affair but was still perfectly entertaining. I especially liked the death by engine fan in that one.
TFD 3D doesn't push the death traps to any new heights of fiendishness or do anything new with the concept. In fact it pretty much pares back any character background or development in favour of a shorter running time (about 75 mins) and more blood. Which is fine. So the movie just gives us bland teen/twenty somethings working out the rules that all the audience already knows by heart and then delivers them one by one in to a grisly end. Only this time it is in digital 3D with body parts and blood flying right at you. Reach out and touch that brain matter. Heh. And it is quite effective. There were a few bits in the film where I actually ducked to 'avoid' something nasty flung my way.
So, yeah, TFD 3D is a fun, gory, silly horror movie. If you liked the others you will have a perfectly good time with this.
Oh, and the digital 3D Avatar trailer they showed before it was simply stunning. It looked infinitely more impressive here than on the PC. Bring on those big blue Na'vi.
Late to the party with this review. Hell haven't seen the film yet anyway.
It's interesting what Nick says about the bus death in the first film. On first viewing I saw this all the way and was expecting it. It is a scene done by the rule book. The bus turns up at exactly the right moment, or not if you see where I'm coming from.
Yeah it's good, and yeah it's fun to see the audience reaction, but I personally think that the bus at the end is even better. You know it's coming, but it doesn't enter the party at the right moment, so get's you everytime.
I liken this to the rule of steps. Apparently you can walk down steps with your eyes closed because your brain is in tune to the fact that they are all equal and it isn't an issue. Throw in some unequal levels or extra long steps and your brain can't cope.
One day I hope they make a horror movie along these lines. Doesn't need to be challenging, just 'off' enough to trick the brain.
Let me give another example. Get hold of a copy of Rhythm of Time CD single by Front 242. Put on some headphones, turn up the volume, and cue up the third mix on that single. No matter how many times you listen to it, when the ping kicks in, it will make you jump. Everytime. Why??? Because it isn't in the right place.
This is in no way supposed to sound like a rant and I hope you understand what I mean.
Nuff Said :/
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