'The Final Destination' review

Haley Webb and Shantel VanSanten (Credit: Jim Sheldon/New Line Cinema)

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Same exact plot as the series’ other films: Kid has premonition of tragedy (this time it’s at a racetrack). Tragedy happens. Survivors, who refuse to avoid sharp objects or wildly ominous situations, get knocked off one by one, usually because something falls, then something else slips, then something pointy goes flying.

The buzz: In 2000 the first "Final Destination" touched on the chilling randomness of death with characters offed in ordinary ways such as getting hit by a bus or slipping in the tub. Then two sequels worth of increasingly absurd, elaborate deaths turned horror into violent and oddly humorless comedy. Now "The Final Destination" arrives in 3D for those who think the only thing more fun than seeing disposable characters brutally killed is feeling like the blood is splattering off the screen.

The verdict: This isn’t a franchise, it’s an arcade game. Not that the performances matter, but Taco Bell commercials have better acting than what’s delivered from the sad cast headlined by Nick Zano (“College”), Krista Allen (“Anger Management”) and Mykelti Williamson (“Forrest Gump”). More importantly, all sadistic imagination is gone when it’s clear the filmmakers now resort to, “Oh, whatever, they’ll just get hit by a car or a rock or something.”

Did you know? Hunt (Zano) is told that he’s sick for going to a racetrack just to see a crash. Always nice when a movie's target audience is its own characters.

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