Final Destination 3

Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ryan Merriman, Kris Lemche, Amanda Crew
Directed by: James Wong
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Box Office: $
2006

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A group of high school students narrowly avoid death in a horrific roller coaster disaster when one teen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) witnesses the disaster in a vision. Now, Death has come back once more to reclaim its would-be victims, and they must once again struggle to cheat Death once more.

Review:
Tim: I am actually a fan of the Final Destination movies. I enjoyed the first two films and was actually excited about seeing this movie. While this film is a decent way to round out the trilogy, it also marks the first real step down in quality. This third film cannot quite reach the same level of the original two.

I am not a big fan of a franchise continuing with an all new cast. This film features no characters from the first two films and is really a stand alone sequel. This hurts the film in my eyes, because it is only loosely connected to the first two movies. I don't like when films basically restart the premise- there needs to be some connection to the characters we've grown familiar with. To be fair, most of the original characters are all dead, but I wish there was at least some link.

The new cast is not exactly amazing, either. Mary Elizabeth Winstead does a good job in the lead role, but I preferred Ali Larter or A.J. Cook in the role. She does give the best performance of the film, however. The rest of the cast is decent, but there weren't really any standouts.

My biggest problem with this movie is the ever-increasingly complex deaths that people suffer. In the first two films, I loved the way that Death would find to claim its victims. However, it seems like the deaths are becoming more and more elaborate. I started to wonder why Death needed to find such complicated ways- surely there are easier ways to kill someone? They could choke on a piece of food, trip and fall into traffic, etc. The ways people died in these movie became so crazy and involved that it just started to become silly. I understand choking or tripping doesn't make a very exciting movie, but it needs to have some realism. This film represents the first time I started to question the validity of the franchise's original premise.

Final Destination 3 is certainly a step down from the first two films. However, this is not to say this is a terrible movie. The death sequences are oftentimes impressive to watch. The roller coaster sequence was particularly exciting. While some of the shine has come off this franchise, I still remain a fan. I think these movies are definitely different, interesting, and I always have fun watching them.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Final Destination, Final Destination 2, The Final Destination