REVIEW; 'FINAL DESTINATION' PROVIDES SCARY, FUNNY RIDE.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic That guru of goofy contraptions, Rube Goldberg, probably would have loved ``Final Destination,'' provided his sense of humor Noun 1. sense of humor - the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor" sense of humour, humor, humour ran a little to themorbid side. Written and directed by some talented ``X-Files'' alums, the film is good, creepy fun - a doomed teen-ager movie with smarts and originality, two qualities typically in short supply in this genre. The movie establishes its sinister tone from the start, showing images of a teen's bedroom - the rotating blades of a fan blow air toward a travel guide of France, flipping it open to a history page showing the guillotine guillotine Instrument for inflicting capital punishment by decapitation. A minimal wooden structure, it supported a heavy blade that, when released, slid down in vertical guides to sever the victim's head. during the Reign of Terror Reign of Terror, 1793–94, period of the French Revolution characterized by a wave of executions of presumed enemies of the state. Directed by the Committee of Public Safety, the Revolutionary government's Terror was essentially a war dictatorship, instituted to . We soon learn that the bedroom belongs to Alex Browning (Devon Sawa Devon Edward Sawa (born September 7, 1978) is a Saturn Award-winning Canadian actor. Biography Sawa was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, the son of Joyce, a homemaker, and Edward Sawa, a refrigeration mechanic. ), a high school student who will soon be flying to Paris on a school trip with 40 classmates Classmates can refer to either:
When Alex and his friends arrive at the airport, ominous signs abound, including John Denver's ``Rocky Mountain High'' being piped in over the loudspeaker. ``Didn't he die in a plane crash?'' Alex wonders aloud. Once aboard, Alex closes his eyes and has a terrifying ter·ri·fy tr.v. ter·ri·fied, ter·ri·fy·ing, ter·ri·fies 1. To fill with terror; make deeply afraid. See Synonyms at frighten. 2. To menace or threaten; intimidate. vision of the plane exploding. He becomes hysterical, gets in a fight with another student and winds up being thrown off the plane along with five other students and a teacher. Sure enough, the plane explodes shortly after takeoff. Alex and the others have cheated death. But Death doesn't believe in taking holidays and soon begins stalking the survivors. And judging from its actions, the Grim Reaper has a pretty sick sense of humor - either that, or it has been watching a lot of Looney Tunes shorts. Alex can still see Death coming, but it comes through such a bizarre chain ofevents (hearing ``Rocky Mountain High'' is always a bad sign) that he has trouble preventing the demise of his friends. ``Final Destination'' comes from Glen Morgan Glen Morgan is an American television producer, writer and director, best known for his screen works of The X-Files, Millennium, , the Final Destination series, The One, Willard, and the 2006 remake of Black Christmas and James Wong, who worked on ``The X-Files'' for a couple of seasons before leaving to executive-produce NBC's paranormal paranormal, adj 1. outside the realm of normal experience or scientific explanation. n 2. collective term for anomalous phenomena. series, ``The Others.'' (The story, and co-screenwriting credit, belongs to Jeffrey Reddick, a former intern at New Line Cinema.) There are plenty of inside jokes, including characters' names (Alex Browning is a nod to ``Dracula'' director Tod Browning; there's also a Hitchcock and a jerk named Carter, which must be a dig at ``X-Files'' creator Chris Carter Chris Carter may refer to:
The humor can be a little sick sometimes; you either have a stomach for this sort of thing or you don't. But ``Final Destination,'' unlike the last two ``Scream'' movies, is genuinely spooky and frightening. (The airplane stuff alone will have you thinking twice about your future travel plans.) The dread builds slowly as sinister events conspire con·spire v. con·spired, con·spir·ing, con·spires v.intr. 1. To plan together secretly to commit an illegal or wrongful act or accomplish a legal purpose through illegal action. 2. to reduce the survivors' numbers, while Alex wracks his brain, trying to figure out a way to cheat Death. But Death is persistent, and even though the ending is a little bit of a letdown, you have to salute the resourceful way the Grim Reaper goes about his business in this movie. The facts --The film: ``Final Destination'' (R; intense violence and language). --The stars: Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith. --Behind the scenes: Directed by Jeffrey Reddick. Screenplay by Glen Morgan, James Wong and Reddick. Released by New Line Cinema. --Running time: One hour, 34 minutes. --Playing: Citywide. --Our rating: Three stars. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Ali Larter, left, and Devon Sawa try to cheat death in ``Final Destination,'' a teens-in-jeopardy film. |
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