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The Final Destination

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The Final Destination
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDavid R. Ellis
Written byScreenplay:
Eric Bress
Characters:
Jeffrey Reddick
Produced byCraig Perry
Warren Zide
StarringBobby Campo
Shantel VanSanten
Haley Webb
Mykelti Williamson
Nick Zano
Krista Allen
CinematographyGlen MacPherson
Edited byMark Stevens
Music byBrian Tyler
Theme:
Shirley Walker
Production
companies
Distributed byNew Line Cinema (Warner Bros.)
Release date
August 28, 2009
Running time
81 min.
CountryTemplate:FilmUS
LanguageEnglish
Budget$40 million
Box office$151,641,044[1]

The Final Destination is a Template:Fy 3-D supernatural horror thriller written by Eric Bress and directed by David R. Ellis, both of whom also worked on Final Destination 2. Released on August 28, 2009, it is the fourth installment to the Final Destination film series, and the first of which to be shot in HD 3-D.

Plot

Whilst watching a race at McKinley Speedway for a break from studying, college student Nick O'Bannon (Bobby Campo) has a premonition of a car crash which sends debris into the audience, crushing some spectators and resulting in the stadium partially collapsing, which would have killed almost everyone present in the 180 section. In a panic Nick manages to convince his girlfriend Lori Milligan (Shantel VanSanten), and friends Hunt Wynorski (Nick Zano) and Janet Cunningham (Haley Webb) to leave. The quartet are followed out by a handful of others who have become angry with Nick after he pushes past them to escape. A security guard named George Lanter (Mykelti Williamson) intervenes when everyone begins to argue outside, just as the catastrophe Nick had foreseen occurs. After a memorial service at McKinley Speedway, two of the spectators who followed Nick and his friends out of the stadium — Carter Daniels (Justin Welborn) and Samantha Lane (Krista Allen) — died violently in freak accidents: Carter is blown up with his tow truck and Samantha is killed by a flying rock propelled by a lawnmower, which goes through her eye. Before their deaths, Nick had seen omens of how they would die.

After hearing about Carter and Samantha's deaths on the news, Nick and Lori begin doing research, and learn about the disasters that occurred in the previous three films (the explosion of Flight 180, highway pile-up of Route 23, and roller coaster derailment in McKinley, Pennsylvania) and discover that the survivors (who were saved by premonitions) began dying in a series of improbable accidents shortly afterwards. While Hunt and Janet refuse to believe them, Nick and Lori manage to convince George that Death is after them and the trio begin trying to warn other survivors, though fail to save any except for Janet, who nearly drowns getting her car washed. The next survivors to die are Andy Kewzer (Andrew Fiscella), Hunt and Jonathan Grove (Jackson Walker).

Hunt later goes to the pool and his intestines are sucked in violently and George is abruptly killed just before Nick has a second premonition showing him that Lori and Janet will die while watching a film in a shopping mall cinema after an explosion in a room above the theatre. Nick rushes to reach them, while Lori begins spotting omens warning her that the danger is not over. Once Nick arrives, he and Lori attempt to convince Janet to leave, but are unsuccessful in their efforts. Janet is killed in the explosion and Lori also meets her demise by being crushed in an escalator. Nick then realizes that the event hasn't happened yet, and is able to save his friends by extinguishing the fire that would have caused the initial explosion.

Weeks later, the trio, thinking they have conquered Death's plan, celebrate surviving in a cafe. Nick notices a loose leg on a scaffold outside the cafe, and he tells a construction worker to fix it up. Once inside he drifts off into thought after seeing omens around him, and realizes that his premonitions and signs, along with all the disasters and deaths that had occurred since the speedway incident, are red herrings from Death used to manipulate them into where and when it would really come for them. Just as Nick realizes this, the scaffold falls, and in order to avoid it, a truck swerves, crashes through the cafe window, and kills the group, thus leaving all connected to the McKinley Speedway disaster dead.

Cast

Production

Development

After the success of Final Destination 3, which was initially planned to be in 3-D,[2] Eric Bress wrote a script, which impressed producer Craig Perry and New Line Cinema enough to green-light a fourth installment. James Wong was on board to direct, but because of scheduling conflicts, he decided to drop out. Consequently, the studio executives opted for David R. Ellis to return because of his work on Final Destination 2, who personally accepted because of the 3-D.[3] For the 3-D, Perry said that he wanted it to add depth to the film instead of just "something pop[ping] out at the audience every four minutes."[4]

Filming

Although shooting was to be done in Vancouver, which was where the previous three films were shot, David R. Ellis convinced the producers to shoot in New Orleans instead to bring business in the city, and because the budget was already big.[5] The opening crash sequence at "McKinley Speedway" was filmed at Mobile International Speedway in Irvington, Alabama. Filming began in March 2008 and ended late May in the same year.[4] Reshoots were done in April 2009 at Universal Studios Florida.[6]

Promotion

Producer Craig Perry presented clips of the film at San Diego Comic Con. Additionally, a number of video games feature The Final Destination posters: Saints Row 2 has posters around the city taped to walls and poles, Skate 2 features billboards with posters on them, and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames added billboards with the movie's logo in a content update. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 also features the promotional posters hidden around certain maps with the main goal to find all of the posters for a chance to win $1,300.[7]

Release

The film was released in 3-D as well as in conventional theaters on August 28, 2009. It was initially planned for an August 14 release.[8] It is also the first 3-D film to feature D-BOX motion feedback technology in select theaters.[9]

Reception

Reviews

The film received mostly negative reviews by critics, with a 27% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes; the general consensus is that "The Final Destination is predictable, disposable horror fare".[10] Likewise, based on the 14 reviews collected, Metacritic awards the film an average score of 30/100, which denotes "generally unfavorable reviews".[11]

Many critics opined that "the series has clearly run out of ideas".[12] "The biggest sin of The Final Destination is its general lack of imagination," said one.[13] "It's death porn, pure and simple," said another.[14] "Whatever hints of originality lay in the series' previous editions have been all but sucked out of this one," spoke Jordan Mintzer of Variety.[15]

Some positive reviews referenced its "OK sense of humor","swift [progression]" and "effective opening sequence of racetrack destruction that puts its Fusion 3-D technology to good use".[16] "The Final Destination has some surprising sparks of life to it yet," said Dustin Putman of TheMovieBoy.[17]

Box office

According to USA Today and Newsday, The Final Destination debuted as the top of the North American box office, beating Rob Zombie's Halloween II, by earning $28.3 million during its first weekend.[18][19] It is also topped the box office in the UK.[20] The film remained #1 at the box office in North America for two weeks; on September 11, 2009, it gained a little more than a million dollars and dropped to #7.[21] As of October 13, 2009, the film has grossed $65,941,044 domestically, $85,700,000 in foreign sales, and $151,641,044 worldwide.[1]

Soundtrack

Main article: The Final Destination (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Contains all song heard from the film and also one that was deleted.

DVD and Blu-ray release

The Final Destination was initially scheduled for a DVD and Blu-ray Disc release on December 21, 2009, along with a boxset containing all four films. The film and the boxset have now been pushed back slightly to new release dates, January 5, 2010 in the US and January 2010 in the UK. It has been rumored that since the film has a short running time, it will include an extended cut. To date, all Final Destination films have passed uncut as 15 certificate ratings in the UK; the release of The Final Destination is expected to follow the same trend.

Future of franchise

Producer Craig Perry confirmed that there are no plans to go ahead with a new Final Destination film, likely making The Final Destination the last installment in the series.[22] He said that combined with a now 3D installment, the film series started to look "cheesy in name alone" and like "another one of those" films a part of a dying or discontinued franchise, such as Leprechaun 4.[22] He added that the word "The" in the title was to signify this as the last film in the series and that it is difficult to come up with "a fresh spin" for these types of franchises:

These things are hard to figure out, they’re getting more and more expensive to do. This is kind of the intersection that makes everything come to bear. It has a healthy budget, the special FX is great, a great marketing department and it has a really nice franchise loyalty to build from and to deliver to, why push it any further than this?[22]

Despite Perry feeling that the Final Destination franchise may be better left at The Final Destination, he said that he does have an idea for a sequel. "Of course, Freddy had a Final Nightmare too, and that didn’t last very long," he stated. "I do have an idea which would make it less expensive, but make it more interesting, [assuming] we’re fortunate enough to even have the conversation about what a fifth one would even be. I think that the fans in particular will appreciate the spin it puts on the notions."[22]

References

  1. ^ a b "The Final Destination". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
  2. ^ MrDisgusting (2007-11-20). "http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/10485". Bloody-Disgusting. Retrieved 2009-05-03. {{cite news}}: External link in |title= (help)
  3. ^ B. Alan Orange (2008-05-14). "SET VISIT PART I: FINAL DESTINATION 4: 3-D Explodes in Our Face!". MovieWeb.com. Retrieved 2009-05-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ a b MrDisgusting (2008-02-01). "'Final Destination 4' Opening REVEALED!". Bloody-Disgusting. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
  5. ^ Edward Douglas (2008-05-14). "Final Destination 4: The 3-D Set Visit!". ShockTillYouDrop.com. Retrieved 2009-05-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ MrDisgusting (2009-04-22). "Behind-the-Scenes Footage of 'Final Destination 4' Reshoots". Bloody-Disgusting. Retrieved 2009-05-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Proof of Vegas2 contest
  8. ^ MrDisgusting (2008-06-26). "'Final Destination 4' Release Makes 2009 3-D Summer". Bloody-Disgusting. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
  9. ^ "World Premiere Featuring 3-D Movie Combined with D-BOX Motion Code(TM)" (Press release). D-BOX Technologies. 2009-08-12.
  10. ^ "The Final Destination". Rotten Tomatoes. 2009-08-28.
  11. ^ "The Final Destination". Metacritic. 2009-08-28.
  12. ^ "The Final Destination". Rotten Tomatoes. 2009-08-28.
  13. ^ "The Final Destination". Rotten Tomatoes. 2009-08-28.
  14. ^ "The Final Destination". Rotten Tomatoes. 2009-08-28.
  15. ^ "The Final Destination". Rotten Tomatoes. 2009-08-28.
  16. ^ "The Final Destination". Rotten Tomatoes. 2009-08-28.
  17. ^ "The Final Destination". Rotten Tomatoes. 2009-08-28.
  18. ^ USA Today
  19. ^ Newsday
  20. ^ "'Final Destination' heads UK box office", Digital Spy
  21. ^ BoxOfficeMojo, 2009
  22. ^ a b c d "BD Horror News - Producer Craig Perry Talks ' The Final Destination', Fifth Film?" (Press release). Bloody Disgusting. 2009-09-06.
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