Tag Archives: Ali Larter

2000 Films, Horror, Supernatural Horror

Final Destination-2000

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Final Destination-2000

Director James Wong

Starring Devon Sawa, Ali Larter

Scott’s Review #1,186

Reviewed October 16, 2021

Grade: B

Following the commercial success of Wes Craven’s Scream in the mid-1990s, the horror genre was once again a hot ticket item.

New Line Cinema capitalized on this financial goldmine by creating the popular Final Destination franchise in 2000.

Five films were created in total.

The Final Destination films all have the same premise. A small group of people escapes impending death after one individual sees a sudden premonition and warns the others about the mass-casualty accident that is about to happen.

Their luck is unfortunately short-lived.

After avoiding their foretold deaths, the survivors are systematically killed off one by one in bizarre accidents caused by an unseen force creating complicated chains of cause and effect.

There is no way they can cheat death, and the bastard will have his way with them.

The upside is that the deaths are highly creative and oodles of fun for the bloodthirsty horror viewer to feast upon. Instead of a knife-wielding maniac, the protagonist is an evil force, which at the time was a neat little add-on that made the film unique.

The victims are mainly teenagers or twenty-something characters, who are the target audience for these and most other horror films.

In Final Destination (2000), high school student Alex Browning (Sawa) is about to embark on a fabulous senior class trip to Paris. A group of his schoolmates joins him.

Just before takeoff, as the group settles in for their eight-hour journey from New York to Charles de Gaulle Airport, Alex has a premonition and sees the plane explode moments after it leaves the ground.

Alex becomes unruly and insists that everyone get off the plane, and seven people, including Alex, are forced to disembark. All watch as the plane explodes in an enormous fireball, killing everyone on board.

He and the other survivors have briefly cheated death, but will not be able to avoid their fate for very long. One by one, these lucky survivors fall victim to the Grim Reaper.

I have seen each one of the Final Destination films and enjoyed them all. Typically, the first film is the best, but I argue that part 2 is the best, but that is irrelevant to this review.

The premise is extremely clever and instantly absorbing. Instead of the dated “final girl,” one assumes that Alex will be the last survivor, and that may or may not be true, as a twisted game of figuring out which order the seven survivors will be killed is based on their seating arrangements on the flight that nearly drives Alex mad.

It’s the perfect engagement for the viewer.

As a clue, director James Wong, who co-wrote the screenplay, creates stock characters like the dumb jock, Carter Horton, with the muscle car, played exceptionally well by Kerr Smith, and the douchey Billy Hitchcock (Seann Williams Scott).

There is a teacher and FBI agents thrown in for good measure, so it becomes obvious who is going to be killed off.

The fun is watching them get killed. Delicious deaths like being run over by a bus, embedded by flying knives, and a good old-fashioned decapitation by flying shrapnel are to be enjoyed.

The final sequence, ironically set in Paris, is exceptional as three survivors are left, and they feel safe. They are not safe at all, as one of them suddenly realizes, resulting in a clever final kill, followed by sudden end credits.

This is narrowly usurped by the brilliant plane crash premonition scenes as Alex teeters between reality and premonition.

The plane explosion is highly effective and is shown from inside the fuselage. The visual effects, which used a miniature Boeing 747, are wonderful to watch with heart-racing detail and excitement.

At times during Final Destination, the action lags, and Ali Larter, who plays Clear Rivers, is not the greatest actress. Her silly battle with electric sparks while sitting in a car is not the film’s finest sequence.

Final Destination (2000) is a fun popcorn film with some admirable, unexpected turns. It stays true to the horror formula while offering some unique additions that feel fresh.

It’s a roller coaster ride meant to be enjoyed and not overanalyzed. The innovation suitably balances the fun.

2001 Films, Comedy, Romantic Comedy

Legally Blonde-2001

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Legally Blonde-2001

Director Robert Luketic

Starring Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson

Scott’s Review #807

Reviewed August 30, 2018

Grade: B+

Legally Blonde (2001) is a film that by all accounts should have been a hot mess, but for some reason is a great ball of fun. High art it ain’t by any means, and the plot is implausible beyond belief, and suspension of disbelief must be securely tucked away.

Despite portraying more serious roles both before and after this film, Reese Witherspoon is largely responsible for the success and is closely associated with this role.

Quite simply, all the elements manage to align with perfection in this film.

Elle Woods (Witherspoon) is president of her sorority at a Los Angeles college. Clad in fluffy pink attire and carrying her cute dog everywhere she goes, she epitomizes the stereotypical “dumb blonde”.

However, she does carry a 4.0 grade point average in fashion.

Expecting a marriage proposal from her upper-class, snooty boyfriend, Warner, Elle instead finds herself dumped due to not being serious enough.

Determined to prove herself worthy, she manages acceptance into Harvard Law School, along with Warner, and embarks on hi-jinks and adventures.

Warner’s fiancee and a potential new love interest cause turmoil for the boisterous Elle.

Legally Blonde never takes itself too seriously and is simply a fun, silly-minded, comic adventure. Audiences will likely chuckle and smile along with Elle’s adventures as she gets into one pickle after another, always determined to prove her intelligence.

To be clear, the film itself is very formulaic and could easily have been trivial and uninspired resulting in a bomb. But Witherspoon shines in the lead role adding a likable, charming quality to the character.

The actress possesses great wit and comic timing so that her character becomes more of a champion and we root for her to overcome obstacles and succeed.

By miles, she is the standout in the film.

Suspension of disbelief is at an all-time high. In “real life” there is no way Elle would ever make her way into the elitist Ivy League school brandishing a pink resume or other silly tricks to be cute and appealing.

Nor would she ever likely be so instrumental in winning a murder case so quickly. To nobody’s surprise, Elle eventually graduates with flying colors and is honored with giving a graduation speech inspiring those around her.

But as implausible as these situations are, they are also Legally Blondes’ appeal.

The supporting characters are pure caricatures, especially the main foils (Warner and Vivian- who take Elle’s place as fiancee). Both are the villains, Vivian going so far as to embarrass Elle by inviting her to a stuffy party under the guise of it being a costume party.

In the end, one of the characters “turns good”, another common element of predictable films of this nature. But again, the film is just pure and simple fun, so these stereotypes are okay.

In more modern times (not that 2001 was so long ago), the film would have not been directed by a man, but rather by a woman.

Screenwriters Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah Lutz prepared a female-driven film that was based on a novel by Amanda Brown.

Why a man was chosen to direct is beyond me, but, alas, this is the way things were at the time.

Interestingly, another recent film that I reviewed, My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) would work perfectly as a now retro romantic comedy double feature along with Legally Blonde (2001).

Both are fun and light but also celebrate strong female characters.

Legally Blonde borrows much from the 1995 brilliant similar genre Clueless but is not as great as that film. Still, the film is an inspired effort due largely to the charms of its lead star.