For starters, I know that all of the Final Destination movies are, essentially, the same. A group of young, pretty people escape death due to the premonition of one member of the group (who is generally, socially at odds with other members). This premonition results in saving core members and cheating death. Death, though, stops for no man (or woman) and the people that survived are summarily picked off with interesting forms of dispatch in the order they would have died. The chain must be broken, but, after a bunch of these films, we still aren’t sure if that will work, exactly. The Final Destination 3D is no different… and that’s a good thing.
Even though all of these stories are the same, they are still really cool, really well told stories. Yes, I knew everything that would happen and, for the most part, in the order it would happen. What these films have going for them, though, are the absolutely insane, unique and disgusting ways that ‘accidental’ deaths can occur!
The Final Destination 3D, directed by David R. Ellis and written by Eric Bess, continues the long standing tradition of grossing the audience out every seven minutes, or so. The structure is solid, story wise, and that is why it keeps working again and again. As long as the filmmakers can keep the icky level up, winners will continue to be made. This particular incarnation revolves around a NASCAR event going very, very awry. Crushed by cars, engine block eviscerations and flying tire decapitations make up our first few minutes. As we move through the film, chain link fences prove deadly as do large drains in public pools (in a nod to Chuck Palahniuk, I believe). Automatic car washes are deadly and, in a beautifully self referential move, the audience of a 3D movie gets a little too third dimensional during an explosion.
Are they fun? Yes. Does it matter what twenty-something is bouncing across the screen about to die? Nope. Contrary to popular belief, I do enjoy a bit of mindless fun now and again and The Final Destination 3D certainly delivers. The cool part is I just wrote like four reviews at once since this applies to every one of the films in the franchise. Cool. Working smart, not hard!
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