“The Final Destination,” released Friday, is nothing to applaud if you’re looking for a film with outstanding overall quality.

Let this point be made clear before I continue: If you want to see this movie, it is a complete waste of time to see it in 2-D. The 3-D makes all the gore and guts just that much more enjoyable. The film uses the special effect to its full extent, and without it, the movie would be just another gory horror that fails to leave an impression.

But the gore is overdone. At so many points I found myself cringing and cursing under my breath at the atrocities on screen. If you have a weak stomach, stay at home.

The thing that makes this better than the average blood-drenched horror is that the filmmakers are actually self-aware.

They know that they’ve done the same thing four times in a row. They know that the gore is so extreme it’s almost comical and that the 3-D may come off as corny. So they poke fun at it.

“The Final Destination” shouldn’t be held to conventional standards.
Bottom line, this movie was not a good one. But it was entertaining, and there’s a difference.

Reach the reporter at pmelbour@asu.edu.