Runtime: 98 minutes
Directed by: James Wong
Starring: Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith, Kristen Cloke, Seann William Scott
From: New Line Cinema
I don't even need to ask... people will be appalled that I had never seen ANY Final Destination movie until today. I knew of several deaths throughout the franchise due to cultural osmosis (chiefly, the one involving the logging truck) but I've never been interested. Perhaps it was visiting the liberal video store in college one evening, where they were playing the installment that had the opening where some woman stopped her car on an entrance ramp and backed up many cars behind her... that was so dumb it turned me off of all those films. However, it was over 20 years ago so seeing this on my sister's HBO Max account gave me the inspiration to say that I at least gave one of these a chance.
The opening act, I wasn't expecting to hear such topics as “use the bathroom before going on a flight to Paris... you don't want a 'hot chick' to smell your stinky poo if they use the airplane lavatory right after you!”, see Seann William Scott wear the classic New York Rangers alternate jersey (the one with the Statue of Liberty's face on the front) or spot a poster of the John Waters movie Pecker hanging in Devon Sawa's room at the beginning.
Of course, I knew the premise that Sawa had a premonition-correct, in this case-that his airplane bound for Paris would blow him... due to circumstances, including that of the aggro male type, several others get off the plane with him and Death fixes that mistake via preposterous kills. Yes, after viewing, I read up on some of the lore... how the original idea was proposed for an X-Files episode, the “180” references are due to the film's original title, and the perhaps questionable decision to base part of the plane's explosion on the real-life 1996 TWA Flight 800 explosion, including the usage of stock footage from that used as news footage in a scene. The decision to use John Denver's music when he died in a plane crash... that can also be debated.
Final Destination the movie is quite silly; that aggro male behavior, the decision to name your daughter CLEAR RIVERS (although yes, I understand the concept of “hippie parents”), those elaborate deaths, the realization that the scene in the airport lavatory was actually foreshadowing a kill. That said, Destination did address survivors' guilt, Sawa's obsession over the incident, and the impact of that tragedy. The premise is of course a great one; even the writers have admitted they were “inspired” by the moody 1984 horror movie Soul Survivor, which is one I recommend.
Ultimately, I was entertained by Final Destination, including how “2000” it was. Of course, I knew that Tony Todd was a familiar face in the franchise; it was bittersweet that Bloodlines allowed him to have a quality send-off both for his mortician character and of Todd himself. His one scene part was a macabre delight. Don't expect me to check out the sequels-that doesn't mean that the second installment will never be checked out far in the future-but I was amused... including Sawa referring to Death as “you f***” during a crazed rant.
After all, using the names of people involved in horror movies from many decades ago for character names here was a charming touch.
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