Final Destination (2000)

Directed by James Wong. Starring Devon Sawa,  Ali Larter, Kevin Smith, Tony Todd, Roger Guenveur Smith, Daniel Robebuck. Horror.                  

Synopsis: A student getting ready to board a plane for a school trip to Paris has a horrific premonition that leads him to get off the plane, along with several of his classmates, saving them when the planes crashes shortly after take off. The survivors have to deal with their grief along with the fact that they are dying in freak accidents in some king of  supernatural order.

The " teens" (or, at least, 27 year old actors playing teens) in trouble theme has long had a stronghold in the horror genre, probably accounting for about 2/3 of all horror films for the last twenty-five years or so. Final Destination follows the tried and true, with the twist on the old urban legend of the person who has a premonition of disaster before boarding a plane and turns away. In the film, Alex (Devon Sawa) is nervously awaiting the boarding call for a flight to Paris for a trip with his high school class. He has a vivid premonition of the plane coming apart right after take off and, when he comes back to the present and realizes that his premonition is real, he frantically tries to exit the plane, being let off only because he is out of control. One of his teachers and four other students also get off, for different reasons, and all six are in the terminal when the plane goes down in a fireball.

You might think Alex's actions might make him popular, at least among the survirors, but you would be wrong as he is regarded by the other five and the members of his school, not to mention the suspicious FBI agents on the case (Roger Guenveur Smith DeepCover , Daniel Roebuck). Only Clear (Ali Larter Obsessed), one of the girls that got off the plane, seems to think that Alex is really a decent guy with a special gift...or curse.

Basically, the film goes on to show the deaths of some of the survivors in freakish, almost supernatural fashion, as Alex and Clear attempt to figure out the curse, and the way to stop it. This isn't, to me, so much an attempt at a genuinely scary movie as it is a psychological creeper...what would you do if you knew that someone was going to die by freak occurrence? The film is what it is, a pretty decent popcorn flick for teens of all ages. There is nothing exceptional about the movie, we've seen similar themes before, although this is done in fairly entertaining fashion. The script has all of the obligatory unrealistic features of a "teen" horror flick, e.g. teens who are clearly in their 20's, the almost total absence of any parental presence or involvement, the totally unreal brazenous in the face of impending doom.

The acting is not bad, actually pretty good for a film of this type. Tony Todd (Candyman, iMurders) has a memorable cameo as a creepy and fatalistic undertaker, and Smith and Roebuck are upper echelon actors to be appearing in this type of movie. Basically, the key to really enjoying these movies is to either be able to put yourself or see yourself in the predicament of the main characters, or to be able to empathize with them. I empathized a little, not too much really. I need some realism, or a realistic/believable look at the supernatural, to be truly engaged not to mentioned scared at a movie. Final Destination is not a bad attempt nor is it a bad movie, but its not what you would call good either.

I guess my bottom line on this flick is that if you see it, fine, you will probably like it as a past time if you like this genre. If you don't see it, you really haven't missed anything special.

For what that's worth.