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"Final Destination"
Overall Rating: **½
Overall Rating: **½
One of the catchphrases from "Final Destination" is "In death, there are no accidents." The same cannot be said of Hollywood productions.
Alex Browning (Devon Sawa) is part of a student group going to Paris. Despite his anxiety about the flight, he quickly settles in to his seat and dozes off. It doesn't take long for him to wake up screaming--he dreamt that the plane blew up shortly after takeoff. When a latch holding a tray table in place breaks, in exactly the same way it did in the dream, Alex starts screaming that the plane is about to blow up. Not surprisingly, Alex is escorted off the plane. Four of his friends and his teacher follow him off the plane. While the group is regaining their composure and making plans to catch a later flight, they watch the plane take off--and explode seconds later.
That's about when the willing suspension of disbelief flies away. Alex practically tackles a stewardess trying to get off the plane, screaming about the impending explosion. Do they search the plane? No--it takes off promptly once the disruptive passenger is off the plane. Do they arrest Alex? No, even though they regularly arrest people for less serious disruptions to flights, Alex is free to go after being questioned. Once he's released, things really get chaotic, for Alex and his friends have cheated death, and death will come back for them--usually in the most bizarre manner possible. Without giving away how anyone dies, one of the deaths would have been prevented by a normal circuit breaker, and another by ordinary caution. One of Alex's friends--Billy Hitchcock (Seann W. Scott) presents another mystery: why is death after him at all, when he would have missed the plane to begin with? All hope abandon, ye who use logic here.
How are the special effects? Generally excellent. The problem is that the manner in which the characters' lives are threatened is so outlandish, that depicting it well becomes a moot point.
The cast is also excellent, to the extent permitted by the script. Devon Sawa's Alex--the film's protagonist--has an emotional range from slightly nervous to scared out of his wits. The limitation is the fault of the writers, not Sawa. While his role here is more limited than his character in "Idle Hands" (a horror film parody where Sawa shines as a slacker with a possessed hand) Sawa manages to be a convincingly "normal" student in unbelievable circumstances. I could say the same about Ali Larter, who plays Alex's pessimistic love interest, student-artist Clear (a strange spelling of "Clare"). Or Kerr Smith, who plays Carter--a bully, who was also among the students who got off the plane. Or just about any other member of the cast. That's what's frustrating: all of the main players capture their character's personalities--but their one-dimensional characters neither develop nor change.
"Final Destination" definitely earns its R rating. There is a very graphic depiction of a plane crash, and some very bloody death sequences. Beyond that, there is strong language, one scene where a character (and the audience) looks at a picture of a nude woman, and a scene where teenage characters drink alcoholic beverages (albeit in Europe, where teen drinking is both legal and accepted).
There is an old story of a man in Baghdad, who, when he learned he'd die the next day, decided to travel to Samarra to avoid death; when Death saw him in Baghdad, Death commented that he was surprised to see the man there, because he had an appointment with him in Samarra the next day. Both that story and "Final Destination" make the same point: you can't live your entire life simply trying to avoid death. In that regard, "Final Destination" is more intelligent than the average teen-oriented horror film--it has a theme. And there are some nice touches, such as a model plane that points up before the plane crash but points down after it, or such as the man handing out religious pamphlets at the airport.
Admittedly, I'm no fan of the horror genre. Still, in my opinion, "Final Destination" seems to have started with a good idea, and attracted some acting and production talent; unfortunately, it's shot down by a goofy plot.
Title: "Final Destination"
Release date: March 17, 2000
Alex Browning (Devon Sawa) is part of a student group going to Paris. Despite his anxiety about the flight, he quickly settles in to his seat and dozes off. It doesn't take long for him to wake up screaming--he dreamt that the plane blew up shortly after takeoff. When a latch holding a tray table in place breaks, in exactly the same way it did in the dream, Alex starts screaming that the plane is about to blow up. Not surprisingly, Alex is escorted off the plane. Four of his friends and his teacher follow him off the plane. While the group is regaining their composure and making plans to catch a later flight, they watch the plane take off--and explode seconds later.
That's about when the willing suspension of disbelief flies away. Alex practically tackles a stewardess trying to get off the plane, screaming about the impending explosion. Do they search the plane? No--it takes off promptly once the disruptive passenger is off the plane. Do they arrest Alex? No, even though they regularly arrest people for less serious disruptions to flights, Alex is free to go after being questioned. Once he's released, things really get chaotic, for Alex and his friends have cheated death, and death will come back for them--usually in the most bizarre manner possible. Without giving away how anyone dies, one of the deaths would have been prevented by a normal circuit breaker, and another by ordinary caution. One of Alex's friends--Billy Hitchcock (Seann W. Scott) presents another mystery: why is death after him at all, when he would have missed the plane to begin with? All hope abandon, ye who use logic here.
How are the special effects? Generally excellent. The problem is that the manner in which the characters' lives are threatened is so outlandish, that depicting it well becomes a moot point.
The cast is also excellent, to the extent permitted by the script. Devon Sawa's Alex--the film's protagonist--has an emotional range from slightly nervous to scared out of his wits. The limitation is the fault of the writers, not Sawa. While his role here is more limited than his character in "Idle Hands" (a horror film parody where Sawa shines as a slacker with a possessed hand) Sawa manages to be a convincingly "normal" student in unbelievable circumstances. I could say the same about Ali Larter, who plays Alex's pessimistic love interest, student-artist Clear (a strange spelling of "Clare"). Or Kerr Smith, who plays Carter--a bully, who was also among the students who got off the plane. Or just about any other member of the cast. That's what's frustrating: all of the main players capture their character's personalities--but their one-dimensional characters neither develop nor change.
"Final Destination" definitely earns its R rating. There is a very graphic depiction of a plane crash, and some very bloody death sequences. Beyond that, there is strong language, one scene where a character (and the audience) looks at a picture of a nude woman, and a scene where teenage characters drink alcoholic beverages (albeit in Europe, where teen drinking is both legal and accepted).
There is an old story of a man in Baghdad, who, when he learned he'd die the next day, decided to travel to Samarra to avoid death; when Death saw him in Baghdad, Death commented that he was surprised to see the man there, because he had an appointment with him in Samarra the next day. Both that story and "Final Destination" make the same point: you can't live your entire life simply trying to avoid death. In that regard, "Final Destination" is more intelligent than the average teen-oriented horror film--it has a theme. And there are some nice touches, such as a model plane that points up before the plane crash but points down after it, or such as the man handing out religious pamphlets at the airport.
Admittedly, I'm no fan of the horror genre. Still, in my opinion, "Final Destination" seems to have started with a good idea, and attracted some acting and production talent; unfortunately, it's shot down by a goofy plot.
Title: "Final Destination"
Release date: March 17, 2000
MPAA rating: R
Overall rating: **½
Overall rating: **½
Aprox. run time:100 min.
Director: James Wong
Writers: Jeffrey Reddick (story and screenplay), Glen Morgan, James Wong (screenplay)
Stars: Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith, Kristen Cloke (as Mrs. Lewton), Seann W. Scott
Original URL: http://www.geocities.com/reviewsbyjohn/Final_D.htm
Director: James Wong
Writers: Jeffrey Reddick (story and screenplay), Glen Morgan, James Wong (screenplay)
Stars: Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith, Kristen Cloke (as Mrs. Lewton), Seann W. Scott
Original URL: http://www.geocities.com/reviewsbyjohn/Final_D.htm
Added to blog site: 7/27/09
Labels: Movie review, ReviewsbyJohn
posted by John at 3/24/2000 04:51:00 AM
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