Is it your time? (Final Destination (DVD))

Member Name: fooyoo

Product:	Final Destination (DVD)
Date:	19/06/02 (25 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Entertaining, good young cast

Disadvantages: Not scary enough for hardcore horror fans

I did not make it to the cinema to see this film as my darling wife does not like horrors, so point blank refused to see it. However, when her brother recommended it, and told her it was not scary, we decided to tuck ourselves up at home and watch it. I let my wife have the cushions, as she likes to have these to cover her face when she gets scared.

The film starts with a group of American high school students, who are excited about a forthcoming trip to Paris. Whilst waiting to board the plane, one of them, Alex Browning (Devon Sawa) has a premonition that the plane will experience problems, and once on board starts to panic, and causes such a commotion that 7 of the students and teachers are removed from the plane, where they are escorted back to the airport terminal only to watch the plane explode immediately after take off. This event sets the tone for the rest of the film, while we watch the 7 survivors run from their fate.

Alex is the leader, and he works out the plan that fate has for them, and how they are going to beat death. It takes a lot for him to convince the other survivors of his beliefs and it takes a couple more deaths for them to open their eyes, but the police are not convinced that the deaths are not down to Alex himself.

The cast in the film are relative unknowns, but I am sure that they will be stars of the future, as will the director James Wong. I have recently seen Ali Larter who plays Clear Rivers in 'Roadkill', so she is already making a name for herself. Seann William Scott is his usual over the top self, reprising his role of Stiffler from American Pie perfectly.

Although the film is classed as a horror, it was not scary enough to put my wife off, and I must admit that I have been more scared, but the film did not need more frights or gore to be better. In fact, it had just the right amount of humour to make it even more enjoyable than your run of the mill horror. It is not flawless, there are
many holes I could pick in the film, but why bother? Sometimes it is just good to be satisfied with what is put in front of you.

The basis of the film is do you believe that you can cheat fate? Is there such a thing as an accident? If it is your time to die, can you do anything to change it?

Although it cannot claim to be totally original, this film is far better than some of the others in the teen horror genre, such as 'I Know What You Did', and this is down to some of the special effects, as they are much better than I have come to expect, and this time there is no masked killer to run scared from.

Summary: