The Final Destination review

Happy Horror Movie Season to all! This is my review of Final Destination 4, er, I mean, The Final Destination, which is a completely different title from Final Destination.

So let's get that cleared up right away. There's nothing final about this iteration in the franchise. There was no reason to call it The Final Destination, except perhaps to convince people that they might as well see it if it's going to be the last one. Well, Death only knows if this is really the last one.

To no one's surprise, this movie is essentially identical to the previous three. The style, the story, and the characters have no significant differences in any Final Destination (FD) movie. So why bother making more? Well, the true answer is that as long as they can think of ways to kill people, people will fork over their money to see it.

The supposed big draw of FD4 is that it's in 3-D. This was my first experience seeing a movie in 3-D, and to be honest, it was a lot better than I expected. Aside from the obvious gimmick, the 3-D effect adds noticeable depth to the scenes. I am surprised to say that I think putting it in 3-D was worthwhile. My only complaint is that it's clear that some effects were done specifically to take advantage of the effect, rather than for any purpose within the story. Some of the kills would have been more effective if it didn't seem like this character was killed in this way just to show a 3-D view of the gore. On the other hand, there are a few moments where the added depth really does add something worthwhile to the experience. A good example is the car wash scene shown in the trailers. The scene's depth really gives an improved feeling of being trapped. In future films, this effect has the potential to create a disturbing realism to such scenes.

Now, let's talk about the movie itself. FD4 is the most emotional film in the franchise. I say this as a compliment to it, but unfortunately, it isn't saying much. As usual, there's never a strong sense of the true terror of death looming over you, nor the agony of watching and waiting for someone you love to be killed in an imminent freak accident. Even so, this one does have a few emotional moments that add some much-needed flavor to the series. Let's hope they can take this much further in Final Destination 5: Another Final Destination.

But of course, people only go to these movies to see people die in the most clever ways possible. The kills in this movie are a mixed bag of cringe-inducing, funny, and just ridiculous. Some of them don't seem to know if they're supposed to be funny or disturbing. I recall a few times when we were shown a rather disturbing scene, which was immediately followed by something humorous. Mixing humor and horror is nothing new to the FD series, but it's too abrupt in a few cases to be effective.

FD4 doesn't have the most clever kills in the series, but some of them are fun to watch, assuming you're into that sort of thing.

I applaud this movie for keeping to the style without being horrible after four movies, and for the few innovations, most notably the (mostly) good use of the 3-D technology. The downside, which I think is huge, is that it still sticks too strongly to the formula set up in the original FD. The characters, story, story structure, deaths, and just about everything else are all the same. If this franchise is to continue, it needs some significant changes, if only to make each installment different from the last. It can stagnate at a decent level for as long as the studio lets it, but it has the potential to be much better. But of course, if you found that you enjoyed all three of the others, as I did, then you will enjoy FD4 just as much and for all the same reasons, as I did.

Caius's rating: 2 stars

Imogen Heap: "Ellipse" review

Hi folks. I haven't done a review in quite some time now, so I thought I better get back to it. I haven't seen any new movies in the theater lately, except Harry Potter 6 which I'm sure everyone has seen (though I'll review it if I get a request), so it's time for another album review.

This time we have Imogen Heap's new album Ellipse. Whether you love or hate Immi, you must admit that her music is unique, both in her solo material and with Frou Frou. Ellipse is a difficult album to evaluate because it's so different from typical pop and electronic music.

Immi leads off with her lead single, "First Train Home." When I first heard it, I was a bit confused that she (or her label) chose this as the first single from the album, as it isn't as intriguing as her most famous single, "Hide and Seek," nor as accessible as most of her other singles like "Goodnight and Go." This turned out to be more of a problem with the album than I had expected; it turns out that the album doesn't have a standout track, so she just had to go with the best one she had.

And really, that pretty much sums up the album as a whole. Immi has clearly refined her style perfectly and has made a coherent album, but at the expense of anything that will really grab you. I normally applaud albums that have a consistent quality among their songs, and this one does, but it's not that each song on Ellipse is great, it's that each song is mediocre. If you like Immi's style, you'll get tons of it here. What you won't get is a song you'll be singing for weeks, or a song with a unique structure, or a song with a varying mood or flavor, or a song that you'll even remember when her next album comes out.

Besides "First Train Home," the best candidates for singles are probably "Wait It Out" and "Swoon." But again there's that mediocrity issue: Even though these songs are the strong points of this album, not one of them would compare to any of the singles from Speak for Yourself.

But I don't want to sound like it's all bad, aside from the fact that her stylistic awesomeness is intact. I do applaud her ambition in some areas, most notably the brief and moody instrumental "The Fire." Songs like this work in well-structured albums because they can give some added flavor to an album without trying to be hit singles. That's part of the beauty of the album as a medium.

Immi put some effort where it counts, and a lot of her diehard fans will probably be pleased. I might not be so harsh on her if I didn't know from two fantastic albums that she's capable of much better work. I think that both Details and Speak for Yourself will go down as classics among people who can appreciate what makes them special. But this just isn't her best work. But hey, even The Beatles had a couple of lousy albums, right? Maybe she'll get it together next time. She's definitely got the foundation right. Now she just needs to knock it out of the park.

Caius's rating: 2 stars