.jpg) |
  Supernatural Thriller Come on now, you know you can't cheat death. |
          |
This film probably chills me easily because of something that happened to me once. Yes, I'm going to tell you a story. In the late seventies I used to go to Detroit on weekends to work as a ghost for a comic book artist that I knew. In case you care I worked on Batman, Fantastic Four and others. Now I used to drive down but I found this time consuming and tiring so I decided that flying was a better option. I had never flown up to that time. Okay I was nervous, so what does my mother say that day? She tells me of her dream and that I should not fly that day because she saw death on board. Like I really needed that, right? My father drove me there but of course whenyour mother tells you there is going to be death on board you have to feel that she wouln't lie to you. I told my dad that this might not be a good idea. He alayed my fears and told me it was just a silly dream. I continued to the airport and sat there waiting. Now being nosey I over heard two women walking by. One women asked who was flying the plane to Detroit, she said Killer Jack. Yup, I really needed that one right. They laughed as the pilot was the husband of one of the wives. An announcement came over the p.a. system telling us there would be a small delay in boarding. My dad was looking out the window when he turned to me with a little choke in his voice and told me to look outside. Shiver time. There coming in was a hearse with a body that was being put on my flight. My mother was right...death was on board. I felt a relief but I never even thought that this could have been a little joke played by the Grim Reaper. Oh yeah I lived. So here we have Alex Browning (Devon Sawa), boarding a plane with his high school friends; all are going to Paris. Before the plane can take off Alex has a dream that the plane will blow up. He sees the entire event and panics as he wakes up. A scuffle ensues and he and other students are ejected from the plane. Needlesst o say the friends are somewhat miffed with him over missing the trip. One of the teachers, Ms. Lewton (Kristen Cloke) volunteers to stay behind with them while the other teacher heads for Paris. All are horrified as the plane does explode on take off. Even though he saved their lives the survivors shun him. Alex is plagued by guilt while the FBI suspects some type of foul play. Alex sees one of the survivors die in a dream but is on unable to save the first victim. The ensuing deaths make Alex realize that Death has no intention of being cheated and no matter how much he tries he can't seem to save them. Eventually, Alex realizes there is a plan or system to the deaths of the survivors. He know knows the order of the deaths that are to happen. He promptly tries to save the rest while risking hi own life. The FBI agents are having a hard time believing what is going on but finally even they become involved in this life and death struggle. Clear (Ali Larter) is the young woman who instinctively heeds all of Alex's warnings and between the two of them they figure out how to cheat death, if only temporarily. The two of them try to save themselves and the others, but let's face it, you just know there will be lots of deaths and they are not all very pretty. The deaths that occur are not just random deaths but you can see the grim reapers's hand weaving intricate moves to cause the deaths. You think you have it figured who and how the victim is to die when...boom...death throws a curve. This really adds to the chills. Right to the very end you will be creeped out. Now, this film was terrifying and quite creepy and you will get more than your monies worth. The ending was good but it seemed as if it was an ending that was contrived. I'm not saying there was something wrong with it, but it felt as if it was thrown in there at the last minute to fake us out. Even with this ending the film is excellent but it made an original movie just a bit to trite. Glen Morgan and James Wong have been doing some dark and interesting stories on television and they have carried over the mood to the big screen. They have directed episodes of X-FILES, MILLENIUM, executive produce THE OTHERS and greated the sci-fi series SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND. These series all had that dark and moody style that has served them well in FINAL DESTINATION. This movie is one that should be seen with a theatre crowd because it adds to the enjoyment when the other patrons scream. I still get the shivers as I write this and I have to think about the images on the screen. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RATING CANADA... Rated AA for violences and language |
Read Still Another Review Of This Film |
 |
vjm@metrocity.com
RETURN TO MOVIE REVIEW LISTINGS