Author: Megan Williams

The Final Destination (2009) – Review

The mid-2000’s saw a returning trend in blockbusters: 3D technology. Throughout these years, every big release was accompanied by the 3D/IMAX format; there was no escape from it, good or bad. And, at the tail end of the trend, the fourth instalment of the ‘Final Destination’ franchise reared its deadly head.

‘The Final Destination’ unleashes its premonition and kills in 3D, with the premonition taking place at a racing event.

While there are aspects that are enjoyable and unique to the franchise, the fourth entry is also the weakest one in the franchise.

‘The Final Destination’ has a slightly horrifying premonition scene, this time taking place at a car drag racing event. And, just like the previous entries, the film confidently demonstrates the steps that have to take place for the eventual accident to occur. By now, the films have taken a sense of pride in the mismanagement of the locations that the initial accident are set, and this is no exception. Even down to the pillars holding the roof to the seating area, every unfortunate detail is perfectly showcased so that, when the car crash does occur, everything falls down like a Jenga tower.

It’s a terrifying idea and another interesting way to start the film. However, what happens afterwards is unique to the franchise: main character Nick (Bobby Campo – Scream: The TV Series) is thanked by a couple of survivors of the accident. It’s both sweet and heartbreaking that this is the first time someone has been thanked for saving them in this franchise. It’s a moment I appreciate, even if it would be meaningless later on!

The ‘Final Destination’ franchise has always been known to change its format despite its simple concept, and this film is no exception. When finding a way to change it this time, the film further extends upon Kimberly’s experiences in ‘Final Destination 2’, by giving Nick premonitions for every victim. Like with the third film, the visual hints that are given are mysterious enough to allow theorizing from both the viewers and Nick. And not just theorizing about what the final demise will be, but how it will all happen and to whom it will happen to. It’s an extension that works, as it feels more inspired by a previous entry rather than taking from it.

And previous film entries aren’t the only piece of media that has influenced ‘The Final Destination’. By the time this film was released, the spin off book series was in full swing, so some sequences are reminiscent of a couple of the books. And it’s fun to see the fourth entry utilize the franchise’s other forms of media and blend it into the narrative so well, an example being a particular death scene that involves a hospital bathtub. 

However, the biggest aspect that lets the entire film down is the absence of practical effects, to allow for the 3D technology to pop out more. During the big boom of 3D releases, some worked while others didn’t translate well to the big screen at all. When it comes to using this format, it works better when it’s used to create a sense of scale within a scene, instead of creating moments of characters or objects ‘flying’ towards the screen. Creating the latter illusion rarely worked and, unfortunately, this is what ‘The Final Destination’ went with.

A lot of the film’s shots carry this tactic and it’s not only jarring to see in 3D, but it makes the visual effects look extremely cheap when watching in 2D. It’s understandable why the decision was made at the time, but the film overall suffers because of it, especially when it comes to the premonition scene. While it is a terrifying scenario, the visual effects dampen the scare factor as it forces the viewer out of the aimed nightmarish immersion the film tries to create. And this isn’t the only time it occurs; another well known scene involving a swimming pool could’ve been extremely disturbing if the stereotypical 3D shots weren’t involved. 

‘The Final Destination’ once again contains some really unique death scenes and a horrifying premonition scene. Plus, it contains some interesting ideas that the franchise hasn’t focused on before, as well as gaining inspiration from its other forms of media. However, it overall suffers from the over usage of 3D technology that was popular at the time, thus forcing the film to swap practical effects for horrendous CGI.

The actors all do well enough for the roles they’re given, but the film chooses to focus more on the deaths and frequent premonitions rather than character development, leaving the characters flat and uninteresting. Another script edit, and a return to practical effects would’ve made this rise up with the rest of the franchise. But, instead, it’s enjoyable but had potential to be better than it is. 

Final Destination 3 (2006) – Review

Three years after the second film, Death has decided to tap into something that I love, and visit a theme park!

After Wendy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead – Scott Pilgrim vs The World) has a premonition that the rollercoaster she’s on will derail, she discovers that the clues to Death’s designs are in photographs that she’s taken.

Despite the three-year gap, ‘Final Destination 3’ quickly became a fan favourite and, after a rewatch, it’s clear to see why it did so. 

Like the previous two entries, the film opens with the initial set up to the premonition and, this time, it’s at a theme park. While the vehicle pile-up in the previous entry did well in creating generational trauma, the rollercoaster derailment is the scariest one for me. The reasoning can be perfectly summed up with a quote at the beginning: ‘the real fear, with these rides, is the fear of having no control’. This quote also applies to the premonition in the first film but, due to the speed of rollercoasters, the potential possibility of this happening is all the more frightening. Plus, the excitement mixed in with a sense of nervousness before disembarking is very relatable, with the latter being an all-too familiar feeling with Wendy. 

But her sense of fear is, unfortunately, correct with a derailment becoming a very real experience for the characters. The cinematography does an amazing job at highlighting that danger: steady shots are shown at the start of the coaster’s journey but, as the derailment begins, the shots get more and more unsteady to the point of becoming disorientating. It’s a small detail, but an extremely effective way of showing how the situation has gone from fun to chaotic and terrifying in such a short amount of time.

‘Final Destination 3’, of course, gets even more terrifying when the survivors start to get a visit from the Grim Reaper afterwards. And the kills are both the best and most visually horrific ones so far! With practical effects still being used, the kills once again have a sense of realism, but they all have a ‘domino effect’ method, where various steps are taken to execute the final kill for each character. An example of this is with the first death where Wendy and Kevin are stuck at a drive-thru queue due to a car behind them, and a truck to the side, then a driverless van rolls down the hill towards them then they have to get out of their car to avoid the accident.

This is how all the kill sequences are laid out, but it works in making the scenes tense, purely because it’s unclear when the character will meet their demise or if they’ll escape. With the kills comes the idea of Death’s design once again. While it’s simply Wendy figuring out who was on the rollercoaster, the way in which she finds out who’s next is through the photographs that she took on that day. This is a unique way of discovering each victim as it not only makes the viewers guess what the death will be, but it also forces Wendy and Kevin to properly look at the foreground and background of each photo that she took.

Not only does Death have a new design, but the DVD release has one too, dubbed ‘Choose Their Fate’. This was a choose-your-own-adventure style feature where the film would play out as normal. However, at certain scenes, the film would pause and ask the viewer to make a decision on what a character should do, out of two options. This meant that multiple outcomes of certain scenes were filmed to allow for this, and was the first time the ‘Final Destination’ crew collaborated closely with the team involved in creating and releasing the DVD. It’s evident that, from the start of production, this feature was always planned and it’s a very unique feature that other films hadn’t utilized before. This is also a fun feature that, depending on the choices that are picked, will show new endings and even some new scenes. It’s an aspect that makes the third film stand out more and considering the concept of the entire franchise, makes sense for it to be included.

‘Final Destination 3’ takes an approach similar to the previous entry where the characters grow and (try) to adapt to the situation as the film progresses, and the lead casting is great. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is fantastic as the unfortunate character cursed with the premonition. By the third instalment, the ‘Final Destination’ series recognizes that the main character must be a sympathetic one, otherwise the question will arise as to why its target audience should care for them at all. And Wendy is a sympathetic character as her fears are immediately placed in the forefront to then have them confirmed, to then have her desperately try and save everyone.

Like in the previous instalments, she’s not alone as she’s accompanied by Kevin (Ryan Merriman – The Ring 2, Taken Mini-Series), someone who starts out as a nobody in Wendy’s eyes to then becoming a great support character, as they both realize they’re in the same predicament. And their unlikely, and unintentional, friendship is believable; Merriman and Winstead work fantastically together. Even the supporting cast have their characters a little more fleshed out compared to the previous two films. The beginning gives viewers an idea of what each person is like, instead of just focusing on them when it’s their time to meet the Grim Reaper. Even though they are characters to be thrown to the slaughter, ‘Final Destination 3’ recognizes that they shouldn’t just be that and should have more of a personality (whether it’s a friendly one or not!).

‘Final Destination 3’ is a fan favourite for a reason: the death scenes are the most visually horrific ones so far in the franchise, and the cast are fantastic. Plus, it’s fast, but very well paced and finds another unique and interesting way to execute Death’s design. While it’s strange for the third instalment to be a strong entry, that is the case here, and it’s one of the best entries in the ‘Final Destination’ franchise.

Final Destination 2 (2003) – Review

Two years later and Death decided to return with a vengeance in ‘Final Destination 2’.

‘Final Destination 2’ follows Kimberly (A.J. Cook – Criminal Minds) as she experiences a premonition on the motorway. But, this time, Death has a different design in mind. 

Out of all the entries in the ‘Final Destination’ franchise, this is the one that is dubbed as being the cause of generational trauma. And that is because of the terrifying premonition, which is a motorway vehicle pile-up. Just like with the first film, the execution of this sequence is fantastic; the build-up leading up to the accident does a brilliant job at showing each driver that will be involved in the film, as well as the careless steps that will inevitably cause the characters’ possible deaths before being saved. Plus, this scene features no music, instead forcing the viewer to hear every gruesome sound uninterrupted; it adds to the realism of the situation to great effect. The only aspect of the sequence that made it a little unserious was the constant explosions, and how easily they started. It’s clear the sequel has been given a slightly bigger budget after the success of ‘Final Destination’, and the cause of each explosion is a sign of this and is akin to a Michael Bay film. But the scene’s impact throughout the years can’t be denied and, because of this film, drivers now think twice before being behind a log delivery truck. 

The death sequences are also more elaborate and are toeing the line between realistic and unbelievable. But the film proves that it can give viewers unique and different scenarios to base its kills off, all of which are just as horrifying as the opening premonition and just as gory. The increased budget allows the film to be more experimental with its practical effects, as well as fully putting them on display. What also makes these deaths scary is that all of them occur during the day; around this timeframe, a lot of horror films were set at night, using the darkness as a scary backdrop and the shadows to hide any mistakes in the visual effects department. But, by having a daytime setting, ‘Final Destination 2’ is telling its audience that Death can visit anytime and anywhere; nowhere is safe. Plus, the effects are fantastically gruesome, with the stand outs being Timmy’s (James Kirk – X-Men 2, She’s The Man) shattering death and Rory’s (Jonathan Cherry – What If 2013, House of the Dead) death sequence.

‘Final Destination 2’ not only heightens the gore and kills, but it changes ‘Death’s design’ as Alex dubbed it in the first film – this was a way to explain the order in which each character would die. Here, however, the order is backwards with the characters’ later discovering that they’re all connected to the Flight180 survivors in some way. Not only that, but the way in which Kimberly is given clues about who’s next is through visions. These are very well executed as they’re intriguing and subtle enough to make the viewer guess the meaning of each one. 

But Kimberly isn’t alone: she’s helped by police officer Thomas Burke (Michael Landes – Cruel Summer) and returning survivor Clear Rivers (Ali Larter – Final Destination). An aspect that I appreciate about ‘Final Destination 2’ is that it reveals that Clear isn’t mentally well after everything she’s experienced. While this should be obvious, some horror films tend to shy away from the mental effects that is thrust upon the final girl/boy after everything has calmed. So, this was not only interesting, but a great way to bring a previous character back, as Kimberly seeks her help in trying to beat Death’s design. The three lead actors have fantastic chemistry onscreen, and the writing in terms of its lead characters is really strong; they’re easy to sympathize with which means that each death is hard hitting purely because the reactions from the three leads are believable. 

However, the writing in terms of its dialogue is occasionally clunky and cliché. While it could be argued that this is ‘Final Destination 2’s dark humour coming into play, it doesn’t work as well as in the first film. Furthermore, the editing is strange; some scenes felt too short, or it seemed like there were scenes missing entirely. While this doesn’t occur a lot throughout the film and doesn’t ruin the overall experience, it still felt jarring.

With this being a sequel, ‘Final Destination 2’ knows what to improve upon in terms of visuals and effects, and what to change to make it stand out from its predecessor. Despite the occasional flat writing and strange editing, the film takes a familiar concept and executes it in a way that makes it different and interesting. Overall, ‘Final Destination 2’ is a worthy sequel.