Destined for "Pretty Good"-ness

I rather liked the original Final Destination movie -- a bit silly, but a lot of fun. I think I liked the second one even better, which not only expanded on the Rube Goldberg-like death sequences of the original, but connected to the first film's plot in a surprisingly clever way. But then came the third movie, which I actually saw for free at a sneak preview, and which I came out of feeling I'd overpaid. It was such an over-the-top, stupid mess that I never even bothered to watch the fourth one.

But last year, the movie studios were using CPR on their franchise once again, and served up Final Destination 5. There seemed to be a fair amount of feedback conceding that, while still maybe not great, it was certainly a return to form for the series. Reviews weren't enthusiastic enough that I pushed to watch it in theaters, but I did recently decide to catch it on HBO.

I actually wish I had seen it in theaters.

Now, mind you, I'm not holding the movie up as any kind of cinematic masterpiece. It's nowhere near approaching my Top 100 list or anything. But it was pretty fun. And moreover, I could tell from watching it that I'd really missed out on something by not seeing it in the theater in 3D. I say this as someone who generally never wants to see a movie in 3D, but this one was actually filmed for it, and you can tell watching it that it was filmed well for it. Ghoulish gore flies at the screen constantly throughout the film, and even the less gimmicky shots are clearly constructed with an eye toward depth and composition beyond what you'd ever see for a typical cheap horror movie.

As I said, the movie isn't perfect. Frankly, the characters are just awful. The unsubtle exposition used to introduce them all in the opening five minutes is painful, and then a fresh pain comes in learning that that's really about all you're going to learn about them. They don't have much in the way of distinct behavior to separate one from another. And the actors, none of whom you're likely to know unless you've seen Fired Up or the American version of The Office, aren't really skilled enough (aside from maybe the two from the places I just mentioned) to imbue their characters with more than the sliver provided on the page. (Well, okay, Tony Todd rocks. But his part in the film is small and narrowly defined.)

Of course, horror films aren't often about the characters, and the Final Destination movies arguably even less so than usual. They're meat for the slaughter, and man, the slaughter in this movie is fantastic. The writing may have been lacking in the characters, but it soars in the plot. Each death sequence is wonderfully staged, with lots of great suspenseful buildup, just the right amount of schlocky excess, and tons of very clever red herrings. Some scenes are very out of the ordinary (a gymnastics meet that takes on an unthinkable degree of danger), but others are situations that many people in the audience may have actually been in (an acupuncture session, a laser eye surgery treatment), thus lending an extra level of discomfort.

The movie also has a very clever ending. I did end up figuring it out, but only moments before it was revealed, and those few seconds did nothing to detract from my enjoyment of the way the story was brought together.

So the bottom line is, if you like horror movies (and like them extra gory), you'll want to check out Final Destination 5. It's not a masterpiece, but it may have carved out a niche as the best 3D horror film yet made. I grade it a B-.