Great beginning, then fizzles out

Rating: 4/10 (16 April 2000)

[WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS]
You shouldn't be reading this unless you've already seen the movie, so I won't rehearse the plot (both puns intended). Here are my comments:
The plane-explosion scene is very scary. It's frightening to think that people might actually experience something similar in a real mid-air disaster. That's by far the film's highlight--it's very well done.
So here's why I gave "Final Destination" a 4.
The plot is shallow. Death wants revenge against the survivors and goes around killing them. Where's the suspense in that?
The plot contains senseless material. Does Alex notice the effect of "Rocky Mountain High" or not? It seems not, so playing that tune, along with such other clichés as causing candles to be extinguished, wind to blow, lightning to strike, etc., only serves to tell the audience that another killing is nigh. Talk about lack of subtlety!
I agree with a previous comment that it was insensitive to draw so many parallels to the TWA flight 800 crash (high school group, New York-to-Paris flight). I also think it's kind of racially insensitive to make Death a black guy.
But what I really resented is that, as far as I could tell, the movie bowdlerized its own plot and ruined its integrity by failing to resolve the story. The two main characters are left alive, but with no guarantee that Death has completed his mission. And this outcome, I believe, must have been a deliberate marketing gimmick (no screenwriter could be that inept). If "Final Destination" had done really well, a sequel could have been made to disclose the main characters' fates.
It's sad that Hollywood is willing to screw up its movies for commercial considerations, and how oblivious many people seem to be to devices like these. I have no hope that Hollywood will improve, but what's wrong with the reviewers? I am amazed at the positive reviews "Final Destination" has garnered in presumably discerning places like the New Yorker magazine. Maybe the reviewers have seen too many mediocre films and are critically comatose. Or perhaps I'm too cynical and/or misunderstood the ending. But if I didn't, it's a far cry from "the kicker of an ending [that] leaves the audience with a perfect final scream," as the New Yorker capsule review said.