6 Harsh Realities Of Rewatching Final Destination 24 Years Later

In the 24 years since the first Final Destination movie was released, the world, society, and cinema have changed, resulting in some harsh realities upon a rewatch. The first installment of the franchise was released in 2000, setting up its future as a franchise, which saw a further four movies: Final Destination 2, Final Destination 3, The Final Destination, and Final Destination 5. The latest addition, Final Destination: Bloodlines, will be released in 2025, but hopefully won’t recreate the first film’s mistakes.

Of course, Final Destination is a product of its time. A lot of things in society have changed since the year 2000, and so there are elements of the film that aren’t appropriate now that were at the time. 2000s horror movies, in particular, were a staple of their time, especially with the surge in the subgenre of slasher films. Even though Final Destination is still a brilliant watch 24 years after its initial release, some things just don’t hold up in our modern era.

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Final Destination Lacked In Diversity

The Film’s Cast Could Have Been A Better Reflection Of The Real World

Despite Final Destination‘s large cast, it lacked diversity in multiple ways. Most of the film’s characters are white, which shouldn’t have been the case for an ensemble cast of its size. Throughout the film, only three actors of color are seen with lines of dialogue; two are side characters, and only one is in a prominent role: Tony Todd as William Bludworth. The characters are also predominantly straight, and while LGBTQ+ representation in movies wasn’t as focused on in 2000, it’s still disappointing that there wasn’t more diversity in the group of people subjected to these deaths.

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The Use Of Gender Archetypes

Final Destination Relied On Traditional Gender Roles For Its Characters

While Final Destination had a good balance in terms of gender, its women were undoubtedly treated differently than the male characters. Traditional gender roles are heavily used throughout the film, with women portrayed as damsels in distress compared to men as big action heroes. A great example of this is Clear (Ali Larter), who is perceived as quiet and mysterious but still needs to be protected by the protagonist, Alex (Devon Sawa), and is frequently dependent on him. Though she does have her moments of strength, the character is generally stereotyped as passive and reliant on men.

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Borrowing From Scream

Final Destination’s Success Can Be Attributed To Other 2000s Horror Movies

While the Final Destination franchise made its mark in the horror genre, it’s easy to forget that its basic structure and certain elements were borrowed from elsewhere. After the release of Scream in 1996, the late ’90s and early 2000s were rife with teen horror dramas, and the parody movie went on to inspire titles such as Bride of Chucky and I Know What You Did Last Summer. While the characters of Final Destination were predestined to die, the audiences’ constant predictions of how each of them may reach their end can be compared to Scream‘s use of horror tropes.

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Final Destination’s Cheesy Deaths

Over-The-Top Performances Made Some Deaths Funny, Rather Than Scary

Despite Final Destination‘s attempt at being dramatic, which it does well, the film nonetheless has its fair share of cheesy moments, especially in the case of some of the gruesome deaths. A great example of this is the scene in which death finally catches up to Tod Waggner (Chad E. Donella), with a blue liquid stalking him through his bathroom. This scene sets up many ways he could possibly succumb to death, as he spends several minutes going to the toilet, cutting himself shaving, and plucking his nose hairs, with his demise slowly approaching.

While it appeared he’d die by drowning or bleeding out from his shaving cut, Tod instead slips and falls into his makeshift washing line across the bath, strangling himself. Of course, this is still a scary way to die, but Donella’s performance was a bit too over-the-top. Terry’s (Amanda Detmer) death can also be considered cheesy, although less obvious than Tod’s. After breaking up with her boyfriend, the teenager rants before being hit by a bus in one swift motion, a scene that unintentionally parallels Regina George’s accident in Mean Girls.

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Cringe Dialogue

Final Destination’s Drama Was Undercut By Its Silly Wording

Cringeworthy dialogue in movies from the early 2000s is common, but Final Destination sets the bar incredibly high. With its primarily teenage cast, Final Destination did almost too good a job with its youth-centered dialogue. For example, Tod and Alex’s conversation about going to the bathroom before getting on the plane relies on toilet humor and is just plain gagworthy, especially when Tod asks, “You want them to associate you with that watery sting in their eye?“

Even Final Desintation‘s voice of reason, Bludworth, had lines like these. While there’s no doubt that Tony Todd’s portrayal as the mortician was beautifully dramatic, the content of his words was often cringey, too. Even after giving Alex a theatrical monologue, warning him of the consequences of playing with death, he wraps it up with the laughable quote, “And you don’t even want to f*ck with that MacDaddy.“

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Continuity Errors In Final Destination

Some Production Mistakes Weren’t Hidden Very Well

Like any first installment of a franchise, Final Destination had some small continuity errors that the later films did significantly better at ironing out. For example, one scene saw Clear’s hair mysteriously turn curly and then straight in different shots, and there are instances where background music has been cut out of order. However, the main inconsistency comes from Alex’s plane crash premonition, which showed Tod dying first and Alex dying last. But in reality, the order changed: Alex survived, Clear died last, and Carter (Kerr Smith), who was supposed to be fourth, died fifth out of the group.

Seeing as Alex was the one with the predictions of their fates, it makes sense that he survived, but it seems odd that the rest of the order shifted. Of course, it could be argued that this was to throw audiences off, building suspense on who would be the next to die, but it also made the concept of it being a premonition a little redundant. Later Final Destination movies would see the order of deaths change greatly compared to the original movie, but whether the order in the first Final Destination was just a production error or not isn’t clear.