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Review by Susan Granger
1½ stars out of 4
There's a difference between spooky and scary. Spooky refers
to things that are ghostly, weird and/or eerie, while scary involves
fright, panic and/or terror. Precognition can be both. The story
begins as a jittery teenager (Devon Sawa) prepares to fly to Paris
with members of his Long Island high-school French class. Suddenly,
inexplicably, before the plane takes off, he has a premonition of
doom. Screaming that there will be a crash, he freaks out and is
escorted off the aircraft, along with six of his friends. When the
plane does take off it, there is, indeed, an explosion. Why were these
seven survivors spared? That's a question that gnaws not only at Sawa
and his cohorts but also at FBI agents who have been alerted to the
bizarre coincidence. So there are deep philosophical questions to be
answered, like: How does one escape from Death? Can you ever cheat
fate? Won't it catch up with you - one way or another? Without
doubt, the first few minutes of the film are the best - after that,
well, this heavy-handed Death-as-a-slasher tale was made for a teenage
audience by James Wong and Glen Morgan, two TV veterans who wrote for
The X-Files, The Others and Millennium, along with Jeffrey
Reddick. They know how to eliminate characters in shocking, not to
mention unusual, circumstances. So prepare yourself for graphic gore,
black humor and some of the dumbest dialogue ever spoken. Trivia note:
several characters are named for horror favorites of the past, like
Chaney, Hitchcock, Todd Browning (Dracula), and Val Lewton (I Walked
With A Zombie). On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, Final
Destination is a grim, supernatural 4, packaged with a warning that
hearing John Denver sing "Rocky Mountain High" can be mysteriously
ominous.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
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out of 4
