An intriguing teen horror-thriller

Rating: 8/10 (11 July 2015)

James Wong, director of the hit television series "X-Files", steps inside the teen-horror genre with this intriguing disaster-thriller. Alex Browning (played by Devon Sawa), a high school senior is on his way on a week-long field trip with his French class to Paris. Shortly upon boarding the plane, Alex has a horrifying vision of the plane exploding. Plagued with paranoia, Alex panics and rushes off the plane, with seven others removed off board. Much to everyone's shock, Alex's nightmare comes true when the plane unexpectedly explodes upon takeoff, killing everyone on board. The survivors off board include Alex's best friend Todd (Chad E. Donella), his arch-rival Carter (Kerr Smith), Carter's girlfriend Terri (Amanda Detmer), orphaned girl Clear (Ali Larter), tag-along student Billy (Seann William Scott), and their teacher Mrs. Lewton (Kristen Cloke). While many become grief- stricken by their losses, Alex discovers that death is still after them when the survivors who originally escaped their demise begin dying in freak accidents.
Final Destination was definitely one of the most original horror films Hollywood has it offer. This isn't a typical horror movie. Instead of a blade-wielding killer in a mask, girls possessed by evil spirits, or people being attacked by monstrous creatures; this film deals with the killer being death itself. The concept involves teenagers who escape a deadly plane explosion and begin dying in really unusual accidents. Basically, these characters get killed from doing average, everyday stuff like cooking or hanging clothes. Yes, this may sound somewhat laughable, but this film does a good job making this suspenseful and intense. The plane crash sequence was pretty intense for me, it almost had me scared of going another plane ride. The death scenes were also pretty intense, although I think they could have been done better.
I really love the characters in this movie. Each one of the characters are very well developed and have their own personality. Alex, the main character was easily my favorite, along with Ali Larter's character Clear, the girl who stands by Alex's side after the plane disaster; unlike the other characters who blame Alex for the deaths of the people on the plane. The cast did an alright job as their characters, none of them really stand out from others.