Right off the bat I knew this film was in trouble.

It started with the title itself, THE FINAL DESTINATION. Here you have a movie, the fourth in a series, where the original film was called FINAL DESTINATION and the subsequent films were numbered 2 and 3. Now, I can understand not wanting to go the number 4 route because that implies assembly line sequel, and so I don't fault the filmmakers for not naming this film FINAL DESTINATION 4.

But THE FINAL DESTINATION? That's it? That's the best they could do? The opening credits haven't even rolled yet and this film is already suffering from a brain fart.

The gimmick in the FINAL DESTINATION movies is that there's this tragic accident--- in the first film it was a plane crash, then a car crash, and in the third a roller coaster accident--- where lots of people die. But there's always one person who has a vision of the accident before it happens, and this person manages to save a few people. But Death does not like to be cheated, so these people must die in the order that they were supposed to have died in the first place. The survivors try desperately to save each other in order to break the chain of death which they believe will allow them to survive. Why do they believe this? What proof have they found to substantiate this belief? Your guess is as good as mine.

I've always had a problem with the FINAL DESTINATION movies. I've found their logic faulty and their scares false. Even though I thought the first film in the series was pretty good and fairly entertaining, I never really understood it, and neither of the subsequent films did a better job of making sense of it all.

THE FINAL DESTINATION is no exception. It was shot in 3D. Ooooh! Will somebody tell me why 3D won't go away? I know the answer. It helps sell tickets, which is too bad, because it hardly ever delivers the goods. Now I know there are probably some people out there who love 3D, but in terms of entertaining movies, it remains a gimmick that doesn't entertain all that much. It certainly doesn't help tell a story.

Anyway, the accident in THE FINAL DESTINATION occurs at a car race track. It's a rather silly scene, a much weaker sequence than the roller coaster opening from FINAL DESTINATION 3 (2006). In this movie, the person who sees the future is a young man named Nick O'Bannon (Bobby Campo), and he manages to save his girlfriend Lori (Shantel Van Santen), a couple of his friends Janet (Haley Webb) and Hunt (Nick Zano), a security guard George (Mykelti Williamson), a young couple and their two sons, a mechanic Charlie (Andrew Fiscella) and a racist (Justin Welborn), whose character is listed in the credits as Racist. Guess they ran out of names.

What follows is the usual mumbo jumbo. Nick and his friends realize that they shouldn't have escaped death, and as a result death is coming after them in the same order that they were supposed to die. Now, if they can break the chain, and save themselves from death, then they will be free. Make sense? I follow the logic, but I just wish someone would explain how? Does anyone out there really believe the story in these movies?

How does Nick know these things? In the film, he reads some online articles about the events from the past movies, and that's his source of information. Okay, that makes sense. It still doesn't explain how it happens, however. Also, how is it that Nick has these visions? That is not explained.

To buy what's going on in this movie you really have to suspend belief and just accept things the way they are without asking too many questions. This just isn't good enough, in my book. The result is a series of elaborately staged accidents, which look exactly that--- staged--- that make good visual theater but boring story. It's just an excuse to kill off characters in gruesome ways.

You know, director David R. Ellis and screenwriters Eric Bress and Jeffrey Reddick could have spent a little time trying to explain these things. As it stands now, the movie expends zero effort t to convince us that the events which take place could actually happen. It just says that it happens. If I don't believe in a story, I'm not going to enjoy it. The events in THE FINAL DESTINATION are about as believable as a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

Bobby Campo and Shantel Van Santen are fine as the two leads in this movie. In fact, the entire cast is OK. Nobody really stands out, and nobody stinks up the joint. The actors are pretty much unknowns, although Andrew Fiscella who played Charlie the mechanic also appeared in QUARANTINE (2008) and PROM NIGHT (2008), and Justin Welborn who played the racist was in DANCE OF THE DEAD (2008), yet another zombie comedy which had only a small release but wasn't half bad.

Technically, the movie looks good, and the accident sequences are well done, but the same can be said for a well-dressed mannequin in a storefront window. The mannequin looks good too, but you're not going to want to stand and watch it for 90 minutes.

THE FINAL DESTINATION is a movie in desperate need of answers. Why does Nick see the future? Why do these folks have to die after escaping death the first time? Why does breaking the chain of deaths give the characters hope that Death will leave them alone? This series has never answered these questions adequately, and thus really has never sufficiently told its story as effectively as it could have. Lucy, you got some 'splaining to do!!!

THE FINAL DESTINATION also suffers from an absolutely horrible rock song playing over its opening credits. I thought I was watching sports highlights on ESPN.

This movie has "fourth sequel" written all over it. It's a tired formula that offers nothing new. Really, if you've seen the other movies in the series, you don't need to see this one.

One thing I did like was that some of the characters this time around weren't just teenagers. There were some adults caught in Death's trap here. And there is one nail gun sequence that is pretty effective. Other than this, I thought the accidents, though elaborately staged, were all rather boring and uninspired.

THE FINAL DESTINATION could definitely use an attitude or an edge, anything to lift it above the level of mindless moviemaking. As it stands now, it is not worth your time, unless you like to watch people die in horrific accidents, in 3D no less. If that's your idea of a good time, you might like this movie, but don't expect anything resembling good storytelling.

This movie had multiple shooting titles before the filmmakers decided upon the oh-so-clever THE FINAL DESTINATION. We can only hope that in terms of this series, the title rings true. Let this be the final stop. Death, I think, has better things to do with his time.


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