ScreenWize

Can a pair of 3D glasses save a film – and a film franchise – from death? Err…no. There’s only so much cheesy dialogue and hammy acting that an audience can stomach, despite the great three-dimensional special effects. And when the film’s producer is on record as saying the whole idea is on the nose, well - it’s time to call it quits. That’s the reason why this is called The Final Destination. After three previous movies – all dealing with people trying to escape the inevitability of death – there is no more life left in this idea. If you want some death porn, it may appeal. If you still just get a kick out of 3D, it’s great. With explosions and accidents galore, objects swoop out of the screen and violate your distorted perceptual field like magpies in the breeding season. But if you like a good story, well…

College student Nick (Bobby Campo) is at the local speedway with some friends when he has a strange premonition. It’s a dreadful multiple car pile-up that sends flying metal and car parts into the crowded grandstand, which then catches fire and collapses. Amongst the grisly deaths (and they are wonderfully grisly) are Nick, his girlfriend Lori (Shantel VanSanten) and their two buddies Hunt and Janet. Fortunately Nick convinces the group – and a few others around him - to flee the racetrack before the event happens – which it does, leaving 52 people dead. But when the people Nick saved start dying one at a time, he starts to realize that you can’t cheat death. He tries anyway, enlisting the help of speedway security guard George (Mykelti Williamson) who is also a survivor.

The film is really an excuse for a series of occupational heath and safety gaffs of outlandish proportions, and the best bits would liven up many a dreary video about safety at the workplace. The film could have easily been more entertaining with some exploration of either the force behind the premonitions or of good old death himself. But no, writers Eric Bress and Jeffrey Reddick and director David Ellis are much more interested in the mechanics of three-dimensional body shredding. Or spearing. Or crunching. And they may not care about the problems inherent in the narrative or the dire performances, as the film has taken US$150 million at the box office worldwide. Perhaps there’ll be a bit of life beyond the final destination after all.

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Filed Under: Reviews by Simon