The Final Destination
for strong violent/gruesome accidents, language and a scene of sexuality.
Reviewed by: Brian C. Johnson
CONTRIBUTOR
| Moral Rating: | Very Offensive |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
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| Primary Audience: | Adults |
| Genre: | Horror Suspense-Thriller Sequel |
| Length: | 1 hr. 22 min. |
| Year of Release: | 2009 |
| USA Release: |
August 28, 2009 (wide—3,000 theaters) DVD: January 5, 2010 |
- Final Destination (2000)
- Final Destination 2 (2003)
- Final Destination 3 (2006)
- The Final Destination (2009)
- Final Destination 5 (2011)
Death in the Bible
Is there an actual place called “Hell”? Answer
Why was Hell made? Answer
Is there anyone in Hell today? Answer
Will there literally be a burning fire in Hell? Answer
What should you be willing to do to stay out of Hell? Answer
How can a God of love send anybody to Hell? Answer
What if I don’t believe in Hell? Answer
THE GOOD NEWS—How to be saved from Hell. Answer
Are you good enough to get to Heaven? Answer
How good is good enough? Answer
VIOLENCE—How does viewing violence in movies affect families? Answer
Every time you buy a movie ticket or rent a video you are casting a vote telling Hollywood “That’s what I want.” Why does Hollywood continue to promote immoral programming? Are YOU part of the problem? Answer
| Featuring | Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten, Nick Zano, Haley Webb, Mykelti Williamson, Krista Allen, Andrew Fiscella, Justin Welborn, Stephanie Honore, Lara Grice, Jackson Walker, Phil Austin, William Aguillard, Brendan Aguillard, Juan Kincaid, Monique Detraz, Chris Fry, Tina Parker, Cecile Monteyne, Stacey Dizon, Dane Rhodes, Gabrielle Chapin, Harold X. Evans, Camille E. III Bourgeois, Curtis E. Akin, Eric Paulsen, Belford Carver, Dennis Nguyen, Jedda Jones, Joseph T. Ridolfo, Chris Langlois, Trey Burvant, Larry E. Lundy Jr., Courtney James, Jenna Craig, Rolexis Delaney, Marc A. Hess, Laurie Lee, Jennie Parrish, Preston Strother |
| Director |
David R. Ellis “Cellular,” “Snakes on a Plane” |
| Producer | FlipZide Pictures, New Line Cinema, Practical Pictures, Richard Brener, Tawny Ellis, Walter Hamada, Sheila Hanahan, Craig Perry, Warren Zide |
| Distributor |
 New Line Cinema, division of Warner Bros. Pictures |
“Rest in pieces”
Ahhh…finally, “THE Final Destination”! In 2000, director James Wong brought to life an interesting concept about the timing of death. In the original “Final Destination,” a young man has a premonition that the plane he and his schoolmates are boarding will ultimately explode. He and several others are ejected from the plane, which saves his life, as the vision became a reality. They would soon learn that Death has a plan, and each of the survivors dies in the order they would have if they had remained on the plane. Such is the case in “Final Destination 2,” except the setting is a crash on the highway, and the carnage continues in “Final Destination 3,” when the students are saved from a roller coaster crash at an amusement park. Director David Ellis (who also directed the second installment) concludes the series with the action resulting from a deadly car race.
The cast of “The Final Destination” includes relatively unknown actors, except for Mykelti Williamson (“Forrest Gump,” “August Rush,” “ATL”) who plays George Lanter, a racetrack security guard who is on Death’s most wanted list. The lack of seasoning and experience shows; the acting is mediocre, at best. Bobby Campo stars as Nick O’Bannon, the young man who prophetically predicts the car crash, and Shantel VanSanten who plays Nick’s girlfriend, Lori. Nick not only divines the car crash, but is quick to learn that he can see elements of the circumstances or causes of the others’ deaths; he and Lori work to save the day (which includes staving off their own demise).
Fans of the series will find the usual fare—a premonition of doom, a few people escape—at least temporarily—and through a series of random and unexplainable events, the survivors do not survive. Fans of the series will more than likely find this to also be the film’s downfall—the film follows the original (and subsequent) storyline to the letter—no risks, no turns. The thrill is definitely gone from this thriller, except for the addition of Real 3-D technology. This film was made for 3D; the ghastly randomness of the death sequences is heightened by the coolness of cinematography.
Most Christian audiences will find this film objectionable; it is incredibly violent and gory, there is some bad language, and one nude sex scene which was absolutely unnecessary to the overall film (come on Hollywood!). Those willing to deconstruct a film in this genre may be open to a discussion on being ready when death comes a-knockin’, but sadly, there is little else.
Violence: Extreme / Profanity: Moderate / Sex/Nudity: Moderate
VIOLENCE—How does viewing violence in movies affect families? Answer
Are you going to Heaven? Are you SURE you know the answer this extremely important question? Or have you made some common wrong assumptions? Find out now!…
See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.
none
Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3½
The third flick? Never bothered to watch it. It just didn’t appeal to me. This last one? Well, it’s definitely fun. I enjoy it for what it’s worth. I also appreciate the inordinate detail put into constructing all these zany shots. But let’s just say “My Bloody Valentine 3D” is still the best horror movie to grace theaters this year. A big reason that is the king in this 3D enterprise of horror is because it uses the “3rd dimension” sparingly.
The Final D on the other hand is non-stop. One big excuse to watch people die and have stuff launched at the audience. No character development. No catchy one-liners. No memorable tunes. Only the speculation “Could there be a part 5?” If this one fares well, I don’t see why not. Like the Saw franchise, sequels can stretch as far as their box office returns allow. :|
Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3½
Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 4
Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3½
Anyway, sorry if I seemed angry—I’m certainly not. But I dislike it when I see judgements like that being made, because it really is unfair. If we start pointing fingers on someone’s taste in movies, a million are going to come straight back—kind of like how I think it’s wrong to watch a hyper-sexual movie like “The Hangover,” but people think it’s wrong that I accept any kind of fantastical spirituality in a movie simply because it’s fantastical. And I can point at others for watching a movie that’s too violent, or has too much bad language. And we could do that all day, and it would only divide the church further. My point of view? Let’s work on the stuff we all agree on instead of pointing fingers regarding all the stuff we don’t.
Almost every movie out there goes against the teaching of God and yet we are drawn to it like a bug to a bug zapper. In the beginning, a new Christian is drawn to God with a fiery zeal for knowledge and thirst for his peace and comfort. Then without everyday self examination, study, prayer, and the strength to be free from the world and with like minded brethren; the passion for Christ silently slips away. It doesn’t take much to desensitize someone back into sin or sinning. A bit here and a bit there and before you know it, your the electrocuted. For those of you who are neutral, Revelations 3:15-16 — “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”
You either like something or you don’t, you are tolerate of something or you abhor it, you do something or you don’t. There is no in between. If you do not stand for something, you will fall for anything. Do not be ashamed of the Gospel. Do not be afraid to stand for what you believe.
First and foremost, if you see this and didn’t like it based on religious beliefs, then you would have to be crazy to have even seen it in the first place. The rating, the movie poster or even the fact there is three other movies to watch before should show you this is not a godly movie. I often wonder if people see these movies just to complain.
Movie wise I wasn’t as impressed as I was with the past ones. For one while I didn’t see the “3D” version it seems like everything was based around long pointy objects. Making it at times seem silly. That’s the downside to 3D movies that are seen in 2D.
Another thing is there was one sex scene. While I don’t care if a scene is done with some tact, this scene was over the top and actually had no real purpose other then to show a naked woman among other issues. At least in the last movies the nude scene was part of the movies flow. And frankly we know they add these scenes now to attract more people.
Violence wise, its Final Destination. That’s what this movie is about. Christian wise, obviously we shouldn’t be watching this. I, myself, can’t stand horror movies. I only ever liked this series because it’s funny how over the top ridiculous how people die. Not the death is funny mind you, but I know its a movie. Where as some people can’t seem to discern this.
There wasn’t much swearing, not compared to a lot of movies I seen. I know a lot of people tend to hear more then they actually hear in movies. About the worst thing I heard was “white supremest” that called a black man the N word. On that subject since this is a religious review that same man does try to do something with a cross but, well I can’t ruin it. He gets whats coming. In the end the movie is not as good as the past movies in some ways. Christian wise the movie is not for most. The movie is about one thing and one thing only… death. And, yes, I admit I have seen every movie. We all have a cross to bare.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 4