The Final Destination (2009)

The Final DestinationNick O’Bannon and his girlfriend is watching an auto race, together with some of their friends. Then (of course) Nick is having a premonition: a terrible accident that happens on the racetrack. After the premonition is over, and he starts noticing certain details that proves to him that this will actually happen, he starts to panic and brings along several other people with him outside of the stadium: his girlfriend Lori plus their friends Hunt and Janet, and also a racist truck driver named Carter, a woman named Samantha, a security guard named George, and mechanic Andy and his girlfriend Nadia. Once they’re outside, the accident happens and while you could’ve thought they were all safely out of reach, a stray wheel comes out of the stadium which decapitates Nadia. Carter also wants to run back inside the stadium because his wife is still there, but George manages to stop him from running into his certain death. Later, Carter has decided to give George a proper thanks for saving his life by driving to his house at night with plans of burning a cross on his lawn. In his distorted, racist mind it was George’s fault that his wife died (or the jackass probably just needed someone to blame, even if it was the man who saved his life). Death has other plans, though. The wind knocks off a horse hoof that was hanging from a rope on to the radio of Carter’s tow truck, where the song Why Can’t We Be Friends starts playing (obviously, Death’s got a sense of humour). The truck starts driving by itself, letting loose a towing chain onto the road. It all ends with Carter getting wound up on the chain, dragging him down the street while sparks cause the chain to catch fire. That’s one of the survivors down. It doesn’t stop there, of course, as more of the survivors keeps dying in strange ways. Nick eventually becomes convinced that Death is coming for them all.

 

The Final Destination (aka Final Destination 4) is the 4th movie in the Final Destination franchise. It was released in 2009, as one of those 3D movies. The previous film, Final Destination 3, was originally supposed to be the final film, making the series a trilogy. But as already mentioned in that review, there would be no premonition needed in order to foresee that there would be a 4th film sooner or later. James Wong was originally on board to direct this one, but he had to drop it due to scheduling conflicts. Then, David R. Ellis returned (director of Final Destination 2). This movie ended up being the highest grossing of all the Final Destination films so far with $28 million on its first weekend (thus beating Rob Zombie’s Halloween II the same year) and with $187 million worldwide. There’s a sixth movie coming soon, so let’s see if that record gets broken then.

 

As mentioned, this movie was made with 3D effects. And, uhm… like in most 3D films… the effects haven’t really aged that well. They are not outright horrible per se, but they’re more likely to bring out a few chuckles here and there. As always, though, it’s the lead-up to the kills that brings the entertainment value. There’s some pretty decent gore, and Death is as playful as ever, having as much fun as possible while killing the characters off in all kinds of ways.

 

The Final Destination brings more of what you’ve already seen in the previous movies. It’s like that ordinary yet fulfilling meal you decide to eat on a lazy day: it’s nothing great, but keeps you content and does what it’s supposed to do. With a Final Destination movie you know pretty much what to expect.

 

The Final Destination The Final Destination

 

Director: David R. Ellis
Writers: Eric Bress, Jeffrey Reddick
Country & year: USA, 2009
Actors: Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten, Nick Zano, Haley Webb, Mykelti Williamson, Krista Allen, Andrew Fiscella, Justin Welborn,  Stephanie Honoré, Lara Grice, Jackson Walker, Phil Austin
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1144884/

 

Prequels:
Final Destination (2000)
Final Destination 2 (2003)
Final Destination 3 (2006)

Sequels:
Final Destination 5 (2009)
Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

 

Vanja Ghoul

 

 

 

 

 

Final Destination 2 (2003)

Final Destination 2It’s been one year since the fatal Flight 180 explosion, and shit’s about to happen all over again. Just on the ground this time, not in the air. College student Kimberly Corman is going on a spring break with her friends, and they’re heading for Daytona Beach, Florida. Just like in the previous film, our protagonist has a premonition: on the highway, a deadly pile-up is caused by a logging truck. Realizing that this is actually going to happen, she panics and stalls her car on the entrance ramp, which prevents a lot of other people from entering the deadly highway. Everyone’s pissed off, and when a state trooper begins questioning her, the pile-up occurs right in front of their faces. Despite Kimberly’s attempt to save her friends, however, fate (or Death himself) instantly made other plans: instead of her friends being killed off in the way she saw in her premonition, they are all killed when getting hit by a car carrier while the state trooper manages to push her aside at the last second. Still, there’s a lot of other survivors that would otherwise have died in the pile-up since Kimberly blocked the road prior to the accident. How will Death pick them off one by one this time?

 

Final Destination 2 is a supernatural horror film from 2003, and it is the sequel of Final Destination from 2000. It’s directed by David R. Ellis, with screenplay written by J. Mackye Gruber and Eric Bress. The first movie became a financial success despite rather low ratings from the critics, so of course a sequel had to be made. This movie received mixed reviews, and grossed $90 million internationally. So, yup, another commercial success without a doubt. At this point you didn’t need to get any premonitions in order to foresee that this would be a horror franchise with many sequels to follow.

 

So, how does the second film differ from the first? Just as much as two Tom & Jerry cartoons differ from one another, more or less. It’s the same premise over again: person gets a premonition of impending death, manages to save themselves and some other people’s asses, and then Death kills them off one by one in the most random ways possible. This one is a bit more bloodier and gorier than the first, and the kills are always a load of fun. Granted, the CGI effects aren’t really that much to write home about, but it’s all about the build-up before the actual killings happen.

 

Final Destination 2 is, just like the first, a fun popcorn-entertainment horror movie that follows the same formula as the first, but still manages to be entertaining and a lot of fun.

 

Final Destination 2 Final Destination 2

 

Director: David R. Ellis
Writers: J. Mackye Gruber, Eric Bress, Jeffrey Reddick
Country & year: USA/Canada, 2003
Actors: Ali Larter, A.J. Cook, Michael Landes, David Paetkau, James Kirk, Lynda Boyd, Keegan Connor Tracy, Jonathan Cherry, Terrence ‘T.C.’ Carson, Justina Machado, Tony Todd
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0309593/

 

Prequel:
Final Destination (2000)

Sequels:
Final Destination 3 (2003)
The Final Destination (2006)
Final Destination 5 (2009)
Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

 

Vanja Ghoul