Earlier this year I was watching The 400 Blows again with a friend who just didn't get the appeal of the film. I tried to explain to him the artistry on display, but to no avail. I realized that perhaps my taste had gotten inexorably out of touch with the mainstream. At the time I toyed with the idea of writing an article about my biggest guilty pleasures, to show that I could enjoy Truffaut while also enjoying Freddy Got Fingered (I do). I ultimately abandoned the idea, although I may yet return to it. I will say that the number one guilty pleasure would have been the Final Destination franchise. I love it. It's pretty dumb, repetitive, and very silly. Yet I've always enjoyed it in spite of those facts (or probably because of them). The first is a legitimately thrilling film. The second takes the concept and cranks it to the logical extreme - the car crash at the beginning is one of the most memorable scenes I've ever seen. The third was a step down, but still fun. So here comes the fourth one, in 3D no less! Does it live up to the standards of the previous films? Well, not really.I'll try to come at this as a fan of the series and not as a film critic or a movie buff. To put it succinctly, they aren't trying anymore. There is no set up and very little payoffs. Where once the characters had some level of intelligence and personality, here they are almost all fodder for death. Many of them don't even have names, credited instead as "MILF" or "Racist" or "girl on top." That's how little this film cares about characters. On top of that, where once we would watch the characters come to grips with their situation and try to comprehend it, here they understand it immediately and just rush from one death scene to the next with nothing in between. There's no discussion of death's design or what it means. And where is Tony Todd? Even the last movie found the time to give him a voice cameo. Perhaps they were afraid he would overshadow these horribly bland actors. I always felt he should have become more central to these films as they progressed, but instead he became less.
The one actor/character that actually is worth anything is Mykelti Williamson as George. His conflicted security guard is perhaps the most interesting and complex character in the franchise (that isn't too difficult, but still worth mentioning). It made me wonder why the film couldn't have been about him and not the forgettable lead character. Here's a guy that accidentally killed his family years ago while driving drunk, and he is now ready to face his ultimate judgement. Instead he is a supporting player that doesn't factor into the film's endgame (make of that what you will). A better movie would have been letting George and Racist be the only two left standing, forced to work together to cheat death.
Really, the whole film feels like missed opportunities. There are two preteen boys who survive the opening disaster, yet they are totally forgotten about. Surely the film could have had some fun with dispatching them (not to mention, not killing them is a plot hole). Also, the death scenes are fairly bland by this franchise's standards. While it is funny to see a character talk about deja vu, only to be killed in the same way as the first film's most famous scene, it lacks the originality a lot of fans will desire. The kills are often totally unsurprising and devoid of suspense. You know exactly how and when people will die in almost every instance. And when it does try to surprise you, it's never shocking or unique, just a tweak on your expectations.
The Final Destination concept is one ripe with potential, yet the films keep repeating the same formula. What about a film in which an older character has been cheating death for their entire life, and what pulling that off repeatedly for so long can do to you (insanity? A God complex)? Or one in which the person who has the premonition dies first, leaving the others in total confusion? Or one in which the Tony Todd character is the one to have to cheat death, opening up to us just what it is he knows about this phenomena? Or, how about end the series in an epic fashion? Have a character thwart a major cataclysmic event (asteroid/nuclear explosion/etc), only to have death come for hundreds of thousands of people at once. It's the kind of epic concept that could reinvigorate this series. I'm sure in three years we will get another film, I'm sure it will be the same exact thing, and I'm sure I will be even further removed from mainstream cinema. But I'd bet good money I'll still see it anyway. They have a hold on me, hopefully you are a bit more discerning.
