Typically, a horror movie series tends to get wildly changed or diluted as its sequels go on, sometimes culminating in total revamps or resurrections.
In the case of the fourth and latest installment of the Final Destination series, it pretty much keeps things going the way that it has always been done throughout the series.
Big horrific accident, premonitions of disaster and a long line of gruesome deaths that play out like a safety inspector’s worst nightmare. This addition to the series also introduces a few rather nifty 3D scenes.
Once again, moviegoers are treated to a group of young, life-loving friends who are doing their best to enjoy a day at a NASCAR-style race track. Suddenly Nick (Bobby Campo) has a startling vision of the nightmare that would soon follow.
This vision creeps him and his friends out to the point of leaving the race, while in the tumult a fairly unremarkable cast of secondary characters follows before the inevitable debris-ridden explosions and carnage.
Aside from the main character being the typical sensible nice guy, there’s the arrogant blonde horndog, a fairly sympathetic security guard and a nameless redneck that seems to have been thrown in as an afterthought.
One by one, each of them gets bumped off from some inexplicable list that Death seems to have written up, a concept that’s been a constant throughout the series.
Aside from a few suspenseful moments and occasional humor, it’s pretty much the same movie as the last three no matter how creative they try to get with the death scenes.
In that respect, it’s pretty much only good if you like odd, horrific ways of killing off random movie characters.
Another notable point is the 3D technology. As the first movie that I’ve seen in 3D outside of a theme park or IMAX theater, the effect is actually pretty nifty at times and there are moments where you may flinch at something suddenly hurtling at you from the screen.
Unless you really liked the other three movies in this series or are a fan of horror movies with little substance and lots of blood, The Final Destination is one to avoid.