Welcome to TBO.com. Skip directly to: our Keyword Search, Section Navigation, Content.

TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online

John Allman

If you’ve ever wandered the aisles at the video store or surfed the DVR pay-per-view options and seen a bunch of movies that you’ve never heard of, chances are John has watched them. Why? He loves movies. All kinds of movies. Good, bad, so-bad-they’re good, even the truly unwatchable ones. He mostly loves horror and science-fiction and drive-in exploitation movies that most upstanding model citizens wouldn’t dare watch. Then he writes up his thoughts so you can decide - watch, don’t watch or avoid at all costs. Sometimes he even gets to talk to the cool folks who make some of your favorite films.

Blood, Violence and Babes
John Allman

Most Recent Entries

Monthly Archives

The Final Destination in 3D

Posted Jan 27, 2010 by John Allman

Updated Jan 27, 2010 at 07:36 AM

The Final Destination in 3D
Genre: Horror/Sequel
Directed by: David R. Ellis
Run time: 82 minutes
Rating: R
Format: Blu-Ray

The Lowdown: Four films in, and the “Final Destination” franchise has reached a comfortable predictability.

You know what will happen before the credits roll: A group of young adults will be about to do something when one of them has a flash of the future, and sees a terrible, bloody event unfold. He/she will persuade as many people as possible to leave. They cheat death. And then one by one, they all die creative, bloody, ironic deaths.

First, it was a plane explosion. Then a horrific traffic pile-up. Last time, it was a roller coaster calamity. Now, part four takes us to a low-rent wannabe Nascar race where, once again, a startling vision of the future leads a bevy of attractive friends, and some angry followers, to flee the track just in time.

The hook, of course, is that this “Destination,” allegedly the last, arrives in 3D – both in theaters, and at home. The 3D transfer is not as successful as last year’s “Coraline,” and the wife and I abandoned our free glasses and opted for the 2D version after about 15 minutes.

The reason fans held out hope about a fourth entry was the return of director David R. Ellis, who helmed Part 2, arguably the best of the series with the most inventive kills.

Ellis delivers a solid flick, but it lacks any surprise. The kills are fun, but not exciting. The acting is OK. The story is pedestrian, at best, and follows the same formula as past entries.

Here’s my question: Why hasn’t anyone thought to expand this franchise beyond the obvious. In the first two films, they toyed with the idea of Death as an actual entity capable of cognizant thought. Death was the enemy.

The first two films also introduced the notion that someone could cheat death. They attempted to suggest that the chain could be broken. And both Parts 1 and 2 included a cameo from Tony Todd as a creepy mortician who seemed to know more about Death’s design than he let on.

If the makers of “Final Destination” had taken a risk and branched out, developed a mythology, even offered the allusion of something more at stake, then I could see continuing this series.

As it is, this is one franchise that deserves to live by its title and truly call it quits.

The Stuff You Care About:
Hot chicks – Yeah, kind of.
Nudity – No.
Gore – Considerable.
Drug use – No.
Bad Guys/Killers – Death.
Buy/Rent – Rent it.
Blu-Ray Bonus Features – Exclusive: “First Look: The new Nightmare on Elm Street”; two Alternate Endings; Pre-Visualization and Storyboards; “Body Count: The Deaths of The Final Destination” featurette. Additional: Rated and unrated versions of the film; additional scenes.
On the Web – http://thefinaldestinationmovie.com/dvd/index.html
Release Date – Jan. 5, 2010