New Line Cinema | 2009 | 128 mins. | Rated R
Though I watch all kinds of films, the horror genre tends to impress me the least. Further, unless it’s particularly good—like The Aliens Trilogy, or the Indiana Jones Saga—I’m not a big fan of countless sequels. So it was with that mindset that I sat down to watch The Final Destination. The fourth installment in the series, this one was written by Eric Bress, and directed by David R. Ellis, both of whom also worked on Final Destination 2. The Final Destination is the first of the films to be shot in HD 3-D.
As anyone who has watched The Final Destination series knows, the young people caught in Death’s web are interchangeable. This time we have 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). We are at a race track, when Nick, one of the blandest guys in the history of cinema, has a startling vision about a horrific accident that kills him, his friends, and 50 others. Freaked out, he and his friends hightail it out of there just before his vision occurs. Along with Nick and his friends, a security guard named George Lanter (Mykelti Williamson), and a few others are lucky enough to escape the carnage.
Why Nick had this premonition isn’t explained or even mentioned. Why does he continue to have premonitions detailing how the survivors will die, one by one? This isn’t important either. The point is, that a number of the survivors who would have died if not for Nick’s intervention are becoming victims of bizarre deaths. Nick and Lori begin a race to alert the future victims and break the chain of death that seems to be leading inexorably towards them.
The biggest problem with The Final Destination is that we are four films into the franchise, and we haven’t been given any explanations. Understanding why Nick has these visions, and why death is inevitable, could go a long way in making The Final Destination a much more interesting film. As it stands now, all of the people die in the strange, elaborate ways the franchise is known for. The only new gimmick is the fact that it was shot in 3D. It should be noted that director David R. Ellis takes every opportunity to fling gore in our faces. Apparently believing that a 3D film would leave fans in a state of nirvana, screenwriter Eric Bress provided the flimsiest of scripts; the story is okay (nothing great, however), but the main characters—Nick, Lori, Hunt and Janet have little personality; and some of the other people who survived the racetrack tragedy leave a bit to be desired—a redneck racist, and a vain soccer mom—fail to elicit much sympathy.
While the first Final Destination played with an air of originality and fun, this fourth installment is a strictly paint-by-the-numbers affair. Lacking any character development or edge of your seat suspense, most viewers will likely find themselves waiting to see how each of the kills occur, and wish they would come sooner.
Warner’s 1080p/VC-1 transfer is quite impressive. The Final Destination’s steady stream of blazing primaries and healthy skintones make the dark, gritty confines of most horror films seem dull. Bottomless blacks and sizzling contrast only help, lending visual depth and dimensionality to an otherwise two-dimensional kill-reel. Detail remains impressive throughout. Textures are crisp and refined, edges are exceedingly sharp, and delineation is surprisingly revealing. A few shots lack polish—still others have been polished so much that the actors take on a glossy, wax-like appearance—but the problem spots are few and far between. Artifacting, aliasing, crush, and unintended source noise are nowhere to be found. Some excessive artificial sharpening emerges as an occasional distraction. All things considered, The Final Destination looks about as good as a horror film can.
The English DTS HD MA soundtrack impressively repurposes the extremely active and dynamic theatrical mix for the home viewing environment. It effectively extends the gimmicky 3-D philosophy of the visuals into the audio domain. This may come across as fatiguing to some, but seems consistent with the intent of the film, and will provide some gruesome 5.1 surround demo material to gorehound surround sound nuts. An alternate Spanish language track is presented via a 640 Kbps Dolby Digital 5.1 stream.
The special features:
• Body Count: The Deaths of The Final Destination (HD, 22 minutes): The filmmakers and actors dissect seven death scenes, including bits from the film’s opening crash, the burning of a particularly unsavory character, a theater explosion, a bloody escalator mishap, an underwater squirmer, and a fence impalement.
• Racecar Crash and Mall Explosion (HD, 11 minutes): View the storyboards, pre-viz animatics, and visual effects plates that helped create two of the film’s more complicated, most chaotic sequences.
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 7 minutes): Nine scenes in all. Nothing special.
• Alternate Endings (HD, 4 minutes): Two alternate endings (sans completed special effects) are included.
• A Nightmare on Elm Street First Look (HD, 2 minutes): A brief introduction to the upcoming remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Freddy’s makeup, his iconic glove, and the tone audiences should expect from the film.
• BD-Live (accessible from “Pop-Up” Menu only) is a link to Warner’s BD-Live portal. At the time of this review posting, there were no features unique to this film save for the ability to host or attend a BD-Live powered virtual screening with online friends.
• DVD and Digital Copy – As Warner has recently stated will be their policy for all theatrical new release titles beginning with the 2010 calendar year, the BD is packaged with a standard DVD that includes both a standard DVD presentation of the movie as well as a digital copy compatible with both Windows and iTunes media. All are the “flat” 2-D version of the film. This DVD is a uniquely authored disc that is not the same as the standard DVD released separately.
The Final Destination will be available on DVD, Blu-ray, Digital Download and Video-on-Demand on January 5, 2010!
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