Final Destination (2000)

Director: James Wong MPAA Rating: R (Violence/Language) 180 minutes

Review by: Mike Summers ** out of *****

The premise of the new James Wong film, Final Destination, is that Alex Browning, the protagonist, prevents six of his friends from boarding a doomed airplane, thereby cheating fate. However, fate is not so easily bested, and Alex's friends soon begin dying in unusual circumstances. Essentially, this premise is a clever-way to make a slasher-flick without the slasher. Unfortunately, this is practically the only clever thing about the film. As far as teen horror flicks go, Final Destination is better than many. There is enough shocking death, graphic gore, and requisite black humor to provide the essential "roller coaster" type thrill at the heart of the average horror flick. Unfortunately, this film also suffers from the worst characteristics of this genre. The relationships between the main characters are tenuous and their motivations are meaningless except as excuse to set-up the next death. The scene where two of the characters break into a funeral home to view the body of their recently killed friend is suppose to be scary and dramatic but features some of the dumbest dialogue I have witnessed. If you are looking for a Saturday night thriller to scare your date, this film might do the trick. Other than that, wait until it goes into heavy-rotation on cable.

Review by: Mike Summers (BikeMan-202) on 12 March 2000. Email: michael@smart.net Copyright Mike Summers (2000)