 ***PLEASE NOTE: A Blu-ray 3D disc is only compatible with 3D Blu-ray players.*** Tagline: Death enters a new dimension: 3D. A strange premonition causes friends to abandon their day at the speedway, just before a crushing pileup hurtles cars into the bleachers with fiery consequences. They have cheated Death. But Death is only getting started. The Final Destination doesn't advance the Final Destination mythos at all, nor does it best previous installments. Truth be told, it's the weakest entry to date. But there's still enough chunky genre fun and sloppy surprises to make it worth watching. And, in many ways, it's even better in 3D. Not by any technical means, mind you, but that extra bit of dimensionality makes everything that much more entertaining. Thankfully, the 3D Blu-ray edition doesn't disappoint (so long as you're willing to forgive its lack of substantial special features). The 3D experience is a bloody blast. Storyline: In a car race in McKinley Speedway, twenty-something Nick has a premonition of a deadly car crash with many casualties in the audience and convinces his girlfriend Lori and his friends Hunt and Janet to leave the place. They are followed by the security guard; a racist guy; a mother with her children and a mechanic, that are saved from death. When the racist guy and the mother die in mysterious and creepy incidents, Nick and Lori research and find many similar cases in Internet. They try to lure The Ripper to break the chain of deadly events and survive, but destiny does not help them. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Kenneth Brown on August 6, 2011 -- As a self-proclaimed horror junkie (and occasional snob), I tend to turn a blind eye to derivative series sequels as readily as I embrace newer, more inventive fare. But for some inexplicable reason, the still-thriving Final Destination franchise -- four, soon five profitable films strong -- continues to entertain me, even when tossing batch after batch of fresh faces into the increasingly familiar genre grinder. Far from the unpredictable jolt that was the series' original entry, The Final Destination is nevertheless as fun and self-deprecating as a shallow sequel could be. Yes, its characters are more disposable than ever, its story takes an even further step backward than that of Final Destination 3, and the finality of its misleading title is only good for a laugh (as if we're to believe a franchise that's earned $470 million box office bucks won't continue to churn out sequels until there's no money left to fill the franchise coffers). But where else are you going to see ludicrously elaborate, Rube Goldberg deathtraps catching dozens of hapless victims unawares? The unwitting, nearly interchangeable young people caught in Death's ambiguous design this time around include future-peeping Nick (Bobby Campo), his girlfriend Lori (Shantel VanSanten), his cocky best friend Hunt (Nick Zano), and the group's superstitious tag-along Janet (Haley Webb). When an eerie premonition allows Nick to save several people from a tragic racecar crash and subsequent arena collapse, Death comes knocking, bound and determined to claim every soul He missed the first time around. Naturally, a parade of expendable stand-ins meet an untimely end long before our college-aged protagonists are placed in legitimate danger, seemingly for no other reason than to give Nick and his friends ample time to deduce and anticipate their own fates. And naturally, the twenty-somethings desperate attempt to thwart Death's plans are to no avail. But the allure of every Final Destination film remains intact: watching gasoline, nail guns, burners, pennies, faulty sunroofs, and discarded eyeglasses align for the sole purpose of dropping a knife, hurling a stone, or lopping the head off a scrambling survivor. There's never a chance of escape; no hint of hope; no real shot at winning. Inevitability rules the day without mercy, tucking everyone snuggly in their graves at the end of the night. But therein lies the problem. Even four films in it's still entirely unclear why the series' main characters, Nick being the mythos' latest destiny-dueling prophet, receive visions of the future if Death is such an unbeatable, unrelenting foe. What entity is attempting to intervene and save these doomed souls? Is it a separate being or another aspect of Death itself? And why is it trying to help if the order of the universe is destined to prevail? Is the conflict a clash of cosmic forces? A time-twisting oddity? A supernatural game of cat and mouse? Or are these bizarre, otherworldly dominoes nothing more than a thinly veiled macguffin designed to keep a franchise afloat? Alas, The Final Destination offers fewer hints about the nature of its overarching story than any other entry in the series to date, abandoning any promise of closure and drawing out the mystery ad nauseum. Don't get me wrong, I'd be just as dissatisfied if too many answers were provided -- other ongoing series have tried to address their beasties' origins and failed miserably -- but adding a few more pieces to the puzzle would have gone a long way toward making the fourth film a truly three-dimensional sequel. Ah well. Campo and VanSanten's performances are more than passable, engaging even, and Death's many wiles are as shocking and bloody as ever. The film's opening Nascar set piece trots out a quick succession of kills before redacting them all, a late-game mall fire ups the ante significantly, and a variety of tense (albeit fairly ridiculous) one-hit wonders will keep twisted horror fans giggling. Director David Ellis and writer Eric Bress' intentions are rarely, if ever, in question -- they tease, toy with, and wink at the audience incessantly -- but more humorless filmmaking would have rendered the film woefully pretentious, especially in light of the material (I'm looking at you, dear Saw sequels). To Ellis and Bress' credit, they manage to surprise even when it seems every twist and turn has been laid out for all to see. A gotcha ending arrives too early and is shoddily delivered, and several supporting actors (primarily Mykelti Williamson) utterly fail to provide the gravitas that would make their characters more effective, but the sheer audacity of the scenes help make up for such shortcomings. Suffice to say, The Final Destination doesn't offer revelations or resonance, only blood-spattered genre fun. Series regulars will obviously benefit the most and newcomers should approach the film accordingly. I would suggest picking up Final Destination, the vastly superior entry that jump started it all, and only playing Death's latest game after sampling the series' strongest outing. The Final Destination doesn't advance the Final Destination mythos at all, nor does it best previous installments. Truth be told, it's the weakest entry to date. But there's still enough chunky genre fun and sloppy surprises to make it worth watching. And, in many ways, it's even better in 3D. Not by any technical means, mind you, but that extra bit of dimensionality makes everything that much more entertaining. Thankfully, the 3D Blu-ray edition doesn't disappoint (so long as you're willing to forgive its lack of substantial special features). Its 3D and 2D video transfers are quite striking, the 3D experience is a bloody blast (and a proficient one at that), and its DTS-HD Master Audio track will wake the kiddies if you're not careful. My scores for the two releases may be the same, but Warner's 2011 3D release has an edge over its 2009 2D counterpart. Trivia:
[CSW] -2.4- Gore ad Nauseum -- I will add almost any 3D movie to my collection (because I can't rent them) if it becomes cheep enough and this one did (70% off). It is obvious the whole point (no pun intended) of the movie was to highlight flying sharp objects that cause gruesome deaths in the theatrical 3D format. The story breaks absolutely no new ground, and actually tracks the original year 2000 Final Destination story pretty closely in concept. I mean, substitute race track for airport in the extended opening scene, and the analogy is real obvious. The main characters are two teen couples: Nick the sensitive cautious one who has all the premonition visions; his girl friend, the level-headed, intelligent Lori; Hunt the buff, wise cracking guy ladies man with his lucky coin; and Hunt's flighty girl friend Janet. Nick and Lori actually try to reason things through to find a way to beat the Grim Reaper at his own game, while Hunt just cares about where his next "lay" will come from (let's make best use of the time left!), and Janet vacillates between denial and utter hysteria. I found the characters quite interesting after a while and was curious to see how they were to be dispatched. The movie does manipulates you in building the suspense, letting you down, then suddenly shocking you quickly with, what I have to admit, are some rather creative and gory deaths. The actors are certainly attractive, however the acting is average, and the dialog pretty lame. At 82 minutes the movie did stay interesting - and I do hope this is the last sequel in this played out theme.. [V4.0-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - D-Box 8.0/10. - 3-D 8/10. Cast Notes: Bobby Campo (Nick), Shantel VanSanten (Lori), Nick Zano (Hunt), Haley Webb (Janet), Mykelti Williamson (George), Krista Allen (MILF / Samantha), Andrew Fiscella (Mechanic), Justin Welborn (Racist), Stephanie Honore (Mechanic's Girlfriend [as Stephanie Honoré]), Lara Grice (Racist's Wife), Jackson Walker (Cowboy), Phil Austin (MILF's Husband), William Aguillard (Kid #1), Brendan Aguillard (Kid #2), Juan Kincaid (Newscaster). IMDb Rating (08/03/14): 5.1/10 from 59,777 users IMDb Rating (05/25/12): 4.9/10 from 37,930 users
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