Might have you yelling "oooh," "oh!," and other things at the screen

Rating: 9/10 (10 August 2011)

What makes Final Destination rise above other films of its horror genre is there is no designated killer. It's all just a series of "accidents" triggered by an non-present force. It's crafty, campy, and of a different breed. It's smart, stylistic, without being too over-the-top. The only scene I can think of in this film that pushes the limit is the scene where one person is strangled to death. It's clear the screenwriter pondered on how force can strangle someone.
This is another horror film where you don't know how to feel when watching it. Tense? Scared? Freaked? Sadistic? Excited? When I saw this film, around the age of seven, I was nothing but amazed. I kept trying to figure out what the hell was making these things fall and what was leading these people to die. When I watched movies, up until around ten, I truly didn't pay attention to any dialog (odd now how I brutally critique films that lack it), I just went along for the ride.
Alex Browning (Sawa) is going on a class trip on a red-eye flight to Paris. Just before take-off, Alex has a brutal premonition where the plane explodes, and everyone dies. Upon awakening, Alex, like anyone, is freaked out and his panic causes classmates an orphan Clear (Larter), his bestfriend Tod (Donella), the teacher Ms. Valerie Lewton (Cloke), his rival Carter (Smith), Carter's girlfriend Terry (Detmer) and goof-off Billy (Scott).
Sure enough, the plane explodes in a fiery burst killing everyone. Alex, now realizes, he has an unprecedented ability to vision an accident before it occurs. Now, the people who made the lucky attempt to get off, and dodge death, are now killed off one by one in the order they would've died on the plane. The order I won't spoil because they explain it thoroughly (and I mean thoroughly) in the film.
Over the years, the dialog in this film has gotten more attention by me. First it was about the deaths, then I listened to information that was around the deaths (like a few minutes before it would happen), then I would go crazy researching the film to get every pinpoint detail on the film before going back to watching it with my undivided attention. I was a mess. I loved the film. I loved every frame of it. Loved its dare to be different style of film-making, and loved every character, even the antagonist bully.
There are some movies you can't put a price on and Final Destination is the one for me. Despite its questionable premise, it tackles it in a fantastic, and enjoyable manor. It doesn't get too comical (you can save that for the fourth film), and even though you could see sequels in the film's headlights, you anticipate them to be just as good as the first if the film sticks to its formula, limits its comedy, and has believable, realistic deaths.
Starring: Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kristen Cloke, Kerr Smith, Chad Donella, Seann William Scott, Amanda Detmer, and Tony Todd. Directed by: James Wong.