Final Destination (2000) Movie Review, Trailer, Film Still and Poster

USA, Canada 2000
Director: James Wong
Cast: Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Seann William Scott, Kerr Smith, Chad E. Donella, Amanda Detmer
Rating: R
Release Date: 16 March 2000 (USA)
Running Time: 1 hour 38 minutes

The Movie Review

Final Destination film still 1


FINAL DESTINATION
Storyline:
Cast:
Ending:
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There's always a price for a novelty, a breakthrough in the movie world, usually from the story standpoint, just like in Final Destination. As a new breed in the world of newly-revived Slasher subgenre, Final Destination successfully managed to give different kind of terror to its audiences. Let me refresh your memory a little, after the big success of Blockbuster Slasher movies such as Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer and Urban Legend, one might think that if there any Slasher movies in the near future it would be fall to the already known (kind of moth-eaten) Slasher formula. Thankfully not, for Final Destination is breaking through with its combination of Slasher, mystery, and supernatural.

Time has proof that Final Destination gross revenue was as big as six times its budget. Being released in March 2000, actually Final Destination had to compete with another Slasher movie that has reached their third entry worldwide famous status..., Scream 3 on Feb 2000. Among the audiences that watched Scream 3 on theater were obviously its fans, while those who watched FD 1 could be said know nothing about FD's premise, except for its murder theme. And I was surely glad to have watched this first entry of Final Destination franchise.

Alex Browning (Devon Sawa), Clear Rivers (Ali Larter), and their friends from school are about to depart on an airplane when Alex suddenly has a premonition of their airplane exploding. Frantic and frightened, Alex tries to make everybody down from the plane but instead, he's being thrown off and yelled by his friends. But among them there are 6 students that believe him and follow him off the plane. Alas, his premonition is true as the Alex and the others watch their plane turning into balls of fire in the air just a few seconds after taking off.

After the school has done the burial ceremony of the students and teachers that falls victim to the accident, things are start to cool off and go normally. However, one by one of the 6 surviving students are died mysteriously and horribly. Alex finds out that they're actually have cheated death, and now death are still chasing them with ways that could not be fight against by mere human. What could Alex do to help himself and his other friends?

Again...Novelty saves the day. How do you defeat the death itself? That sentence alone already gives me the creeps. The students are stalked, chased and killed not by any serial killer or psychopath, but something more terrifying than that. Final Destination would even go as far as making the audience wonder how Alex and Clear would escape death the next Death comes.

Final Destination is brilliant in presenting its terror or its way of killing. The method in Final Destination can be described in several words such as, not much gory or bloody scenes involved, not that obvious with a man with a mask carrying a knife or other wicked weapons, and not also giving ghosts with pale faces that show up out of the nowhere. The killing is brilliant and actually terrifying...Brilliant for the way its killing people could not be have done by human, because a human would need a series of coincidences to make it work. And terrifying because, well if your time is up, then is up right? And we know that all people must die sometimes. But the students here already know that they are the next target of the undefeated "doer".

Devon Sawa and the rest of the actors give solid performances to bring up the tension to the movie. Devon as Alex could be likable enough and sympathetic to make the audiences feel intrigued with the mystery and Seann William Scott--in his second film and already famous with his role in American Pie--still play as the joker, but not that wacky as in American Pie (1999), but comical enough to balance the tension, as is needed for high school horror flick like this. But the biggest drama comes from the fight between the stubborn and hateful Kerr Smith who plays Carter and Devon. Almost every time they're on screen together, the audience's emotion is stirred-up and involved...And this is good to keep the tension going. Yes, the balanced proportion between the acting quality, the dialogue and the camerawork are perfect, they don't steal the thunder from the premise.

Slasher fans, gather around, Final Destination is just not giving you the sheer and mere terror of killing and death. It will leave you in a state of paranoid, or at least you would put a bit of thinking on its premise. Highly and truly recommended for Slasher and horror fans.