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58%
Overall Rating
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Ranked #1,219
...out of 20,869 movies
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Six years after students cheated death, another teen has a premonition she and her friends will be involved in an accident. When the vision proves true, the student and survivors deal with the repercussions of cheating the Grim Reaper.
--IMDb
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After coming off a string of unbelievably bad movies - "When A Stranger Calls", "The Pink Panther", "Date Movie" - to say that I was prepared for a letdown when walking into the theatre to see "Final Destination 3" was an understatement. The first film was a nice little horror film with an interesting story and some damned creative execution. The sequel was, essentially, the same film as the original, with a car accident taking the place of an airplane disaster. Not to mention, the actors in the second film did little to assist with the movie-going experience. "Final Destination 3", like the sequel, is just like the original film, with a rollercoaster accident replacing the airplane disaster. There are some fresh faces in this film, and some interesting and creative death scenes, thanks largely to the return of James Wong, who directed the original but skipped out on the sequel. I was thoroughly entertained by "Final Destination 3" and enjoyed it almost as much as original. The characters are more likable, the set-ups are more gruesome, and the use of music in this film was quite enjoyable, comparable to John Denver popping up in the first film. Horror fans should not be disappointed, and if James Wong is back for a fourth film, I am all about going out to see it.
While celebrating Grad Night at a local amusement park, four friends (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ryan Merriman, Gina Holden, Jesse Moss) are determined to ride the coolest rollercoaster in the world. Tony Todd voices the Devil that leads the young people to the ride. However, Wendy (Winstead) has a terrible vision of the rollercoaster crashing and killing everyone on board and she ends up saving herself and some of her friends from the ill-fated disaster, which comes to fruition, just like in the other films. So, the ones who escaped are now marked for death by...well...Death. The remainder of the film deals with Death taking them down in creative and unusual ways, as Wendy and Kevin (Merriman) try desperately to prevent their own deaths from occurring. Don't expect anything different from what you saw in the other two films, but do expect more creativity, more compassion for the characters, and more gore. Just when you thought this series had reached its limit in terms of bodily dismemberment, we are slapped with a whole new onslaught of Death-induced violence. This is the kind of gore that I enjoy - not the nauseating displays that I just saw in the worthless "Date Movie". "Final Destination 3" fires the violence on all cylinders.
Rollercoasters have always been a source of fear for many people, and this film plays on that fear in a very genuine way. We all have that idea that the rollercoaster is going to fly off the tracks at one hundred miles an hour, sending us catapulting through the air. The opening sequence of this film takes that notion to a whole new level. I doubt many people who see this film will ever ride a rollercoaster again, and I really don't blame them. I loved the way director James Wong used Tony Todd - the face of the first two films - in a different way than in the others. As soon as I heard that deep, deep voice, I knew it was him, and then I saw the sign that read, "I'll see you soon." I love little touches like that and it made me enjoy the film that much more. I also thought the two leads, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ryan Merriman, did a superb job with really stereotypical and cliched roles. I mean - they're not going to win any Oscars for their performances, but they were far better than the hacks from the sequel. Oh, what a difference a director makes. And, oh, the death scenes. This franchise has gone the "Friday the 13th" route and is constantly trying to best itself with new and creative death scenes, like a girl getting pelted by a nail gun, and two valley girls meeting their ends the most fashionable way possible. James Wong really gave us something to laugh about.
Most of you are probably dumbfounded at how I can give a film like "Final Destination 3" a positive review, and a very positive review, at that. If you had sat through the last three films I had to sit through, a sequel to "Ishtar" would sound like a good idea. I guess I just needed some dumb entertainment and that is exactly what the "Final Destination" franchise offers, and it offers it in abundance. I am not saying this is the best horror film I have ever seen, or likely even the best horror film I have seen all year, but it is the best film I have seen in my last three cinematic ventures. The return of director James Wong really helped this film stand apart from the other two, and I credit he and a talented group of young actors for making this not only bearable, but enjoyable.
7.5/10.
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#1:
BuryMeAlive
- added November 9, 2007 at 4:47pm
The movie is not bad at all, but it's really like
"seen it before" if you have seen the previous two
movies.
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#2:
Rik
- added August 5, 2008 at 1:36pm
The fan through the head was awesome.
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#3:
BILL HEINTZ
- added December 4, 2011 at 5:24pm
MARY ELIZABETH WINSTEAD MAKES THE FILM. SOLID
PERFORMANCE! THIS IS THE BEST IN THE SERIES BY THE
WAY.
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