Boy vs. Death...free will against destined fate...hmmm

Rating: 7/10 (19 March 2000)

It's hard to explain exactly what I think of this film. If it can be placed under the category of teen slasher horror type flick (along with the "Scream" trilogy, "I Know What You Did Last Summer," "Urban Legends," and "The Faculty"), then I'd have to admit it performed very well. Otherwise, if that is not what you are looking for, then just don't see it.
However, "Final Destination" gives a new twist to the genre (introduced by the tag line "You can't cheat death") by attacking and terrorizing the characters with a killer that absolutely cannot be killed (or stopped, as you will see in the end). And since the killer is not really human, the deaths don't necessarily have to be realistic (anything short of completely unbelievable is an understatement), which is actually somewhat refreshing; it forces you to kind of use your imagination; and if you can't, it provides the pretty (read: gory and bloody) pictures for you.
The main principles by which the characters follow regarding "Death's Design" was reminiscent of John Calvin's belief of predestination which ignited during the Protestant Reformation. This belief was that God decided in advance who lives and who dies. The movie reconstructs this idea very well, and even leaves you wondering whether they were right about Death's Design or whether they were just following the plan all along.
Other than all that, the film proves exciting through the end (you will NOT be bored), because as we all know, Death is relentless. People may complain about the ridiculous dialogue (which it has, but that's not what this genre is popular for) or about the idiotic actions of characters (which they are, but that is all too common and expected in slasher films), or the supernatural causes of death (which is what will make this movie memorable longer than Scream), but overall it does exactly what movies of this genre are supposed to do: scare you--scare you because you don't know who's going to die, and scare you even more if you do.