RIP, Final Destination

Okay people, as promised, here is my review of that much talked-about movie The Final Destination (aka Final Destination 4).

I give the movie:





When it was made known that this was going to be The Final Destination, there was indeed a buzz in the air. Voyeuristic fans of the franchise would sadistically recall the horror of the trademark first death sequence, then that edge-of-your-seat feeling as Death slowly (and creatively) claims its victims one by one... all of them thrilling memories...

...that were completely absent in this film.

We should have noticed the signs. Although the trailer was available in high-definition on Youtube, a death by car-races just wasn't as horrifying as the graphic destruction of the airplane in the first movie. Also, what is with the totally uninspiring poster? It doesn't say anything about the movie. Maybe that was their motive - to make you not want to watch it.

This supposedly final installment uses a cliche-filled NASCAR sequence at the start to establish the familiar premise - young man has a premonition and he manages to convince his friends (along with some unwilling strangers) to leave the site just in time before the accident on the track occurs, them narrowly escaping a potentially-horrendous death.

But you all do know that the movie must go on, and in some kind of lazy been-there-done-that fashion, the paper-thin plotline unfolds as Death go claim back what was meant to be.

What made the first three movies watchable was the suspense they build up to the gruesome deaths, and especially in the first and second ones, that deliberately-prolonged moment whereby the victims suffer before taking that last breath. But in #4, people just die. In one second. Fullstop. If that was what the audience was looking for, they might as well watch a Steven Spielberg war-movie, and probably derive more satisfaction from the body count.

The final nail in the coffin for FD4 was the ending. The most inexcusable way to end an already groan-inducing movie is to kill-off your characters lamely. And that was what they did.

FINAL SAY: How do you define a waste of one's money? Short running time. Uninspiring. Bad storyline. Try not to be tempted by the 3D.
~

Okay, sorry if any of you guys did enjoy the movie while I shredded it into pieces here. But that's how I felt it should be (and judging by the poster, the producers agree, too) - it should be in pieces. =X

Coco before Chanel next week! Hope it's good. And Phobia 2! Fifi, start finding people to watch =P

To us freshies, work hard!

Take care, people!