** 1/2 out of *****

When I die, I want to die in a badass way. Not in my sleep, or from some stupid disease, or anything else lame like that. I want to get my head sliced off or maybe even have a vacuum cleaner suck my brains out through my ears. But now, thanks to The Final Destination, I know there is no dream of death that will eclipse what can be witnessed on the big screen. Demented, right? Well — that’s the perfect word to describe The Final Destination as well.

The film opens with four friends enjoying hot dogs and sodas at a racecar track. Like the film’s predecessors, one of the four protagonists (five, if you include Death) — this time, Nick (Bobby Campo) — has a vision of a disaster that will take all of their lives. He warns his pals and even though they think he’s crazy, they manage to escape before crisis strikes. After witnessing so much death, the characters try to move on with their lives. They soon learn that Death is stalking any survivors at the racecar track who perished in Bobby’s vision. The gang must figure out how to break the chain in order to survive.

The Final Destination’s major flaw is its script. The film has virtually no plot, and it’s evident the writers exerted most of their efforts in devising the most creative ways to eliminate characters.

Admittedly, the scribes do pretty good jobs in that respect, but there is no other substance to story than death. The poor writing squelches what little acting ability the actors bring to their characters. All the dialogue feels forced and awkward as the cast fights to get through each scene, just so we can witness another crazy death.

However, The Final Destination is not a bad movie — which is hard to believe when both the script and acting sucks. Filmed in 3D, director David R. Ellis’ creativity really shines. I expected to only have nails and hammers thrown at my face in lame attempts to make me jump out of my seat. And even though there were a few of those moments, Ellis instead used the 3D technology to create environments and moods. For example, while the four friends sat around drinking coffee, two members of the group stood out in 3D, making the audience feel like the clique’s fifth member.

These inventive shots provided some saving grace in scenes full of bad dialogue and poor acting.