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Movie Review - Final Destination 3
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
James Wong |
| Starring: |
Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ryan Merriman, and a bunch of young kids who die |
| Rated: |
R (for strong horror violence/gore, language and some nudity) |
| Length: |
115 minutes |
| Genre: |
Horror/Supernatural Thriller |
| Tagline: |
This Ride Will Be The Death Of You. |
| Studio: |
New Line Cinema |
| Website: |
Final Destination 3 |
| Release: |
February 10, 2006 |
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PLOT
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High school senior Wendy (Winstead) and her friends are enjoying a graduation night celebration at the local
amusement park. As they're boarding the Devil's Flight (red flag, anybody?) roller coaster, Wendy has a
frightening premonition in which the roller coaster begins to fall apart, killing her and her friends.
Once Wendy snaps back into reality she freaks out and demands to be let off the roller coaster. After a little
pandemonium and scuffling, a few more students exit (some are ejected) the ride. Hardly anyone cares about
Wendy's premonition, so the ride commences as planned. Poor saps. They should've listened to Wendy. The
roller coaster careens out of control and kills everybody on board.
However, life isn't roses for the survivors. You see, they were meant to die, and death ain't happy
when he gets cheated. One by one, the survivors meet gruesome ends, but Wendy and Kevin (Merriman) are
destined to find clues that will help them thwart Death's plan. A third chapter of graphic, inventive
deaths ensues.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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Poor Death. The guy can't seem to catch a break. He's got a job to do, and now for a third time he's being kept
from doing it. What's worse is he's being foiled by a bunch of high school kids! That can't be good for the ego.
Within that context you can't really blame the guy for trying to finish the job. Heck, if I were Death I'd totally
relish taking some of these brats out. Particularly the guy who calls himself Frankie Cheeks. Sheesh, if that guy
were any more annoying then his name would most likely be Chris Kattan.
Anyway, this is a movie that's very easy to review. Did you like the first two entries in the Final
Destination franchise? Do you like to watch irritating characters meet unseemly demises? If so then
you'll love it. If not then save your money. I don't want to hear any complaining.
Personally, I morbidly enjoyed it. The movie starts off with a cringe-inducing roller coaster disaster, one that
will likely make you think twice about setting foot in an amusement park again, and it rarely slows down for a
breather. The filmmakers set out to ensure that the viewer, like a child at Neverland Ranch, is never at ease,
and that goal is accomplished as each scene leaves the viewer nervously anticipating who is going to die next.
Yeah, yeah, Wendy and Kevin are desperately trying to save their peers from Death's cruel hand, but come on.
We all know somebody's head is about to be turned into ground beef or somebody will be on the receiving end of a
dismemberment soon. We wait ... wait ... wait ... and then BAM! Gory kill. I should probably feel guilty for
laughing out loud at some of these fatalities, but since these are silly little characters that didn't die in
real life I've decided not to let it weigh on my conscience.
A new element to the franchise is that clues are being left as to how the characters will die. Using her nifty
digital camera, Wendy was busy taking pictures for the yearbook on that fateful night. After the accident, she
begins examining the pictures and realizes that she has taken at least one picture of each survivor. A little
more studying reveals that she might be able to use the photos to help the characters escape Death. Is this a
case of Death playing a sadistic game with Wendy and Kevin, or is there some sort of benevolent life force that's
trying to help them save their friends? The filmmakers leave it up to the viewer to decide.
This is a nice touch that keeps the viewer actively involved in the cinematic proceedings. It gives
us the chance to try to interpret the clues and guess who might be Death's next victim and how they'll be
violently killed. Perhaps that's not exactly an activity you want to participate in so keep it in mind before
laying your money down.
One thing that really gauges whether a movie connects with its target audience is the crowd's reaction, and I
have to say that Final Destination 3 got the loudest, most involved reaction I've witnessed in quite a
while. While the deaths were being thrown at us fast and hard, the audience was oohing and ahhing with every
single one. During one particularly brutal scene a girl behind me let out a high-pitched shriek so loud
that I had to turn around and make sure Chris Tucker hadn't wandered into the theater.
No one goes to see a Final Destination movie with the expectation of great acting and high brow art.
They just want to be scared or freaked out. Love it or hate it, there's no denying that Final Destination
3 at least forces you to have an opinion about it. It'll make you cringe, it'll make you turn your head in
disgust, but at least it's original and creative enough to make you feel something other than absolute boredom
like some other so-called horror movies out there
COUGHwhenastrangercallsHACK.
If just one person decides not to ride a roller coaster the next time they're at an amusement park then the
filmmakers have done their job.
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ODDS & ENDS
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- "We did a preview for Final Destination 2, which has a terrible elevator sequence in which a woman's
head gets corkscrewed off," says Producer Craig Perry. "A bunch of kids were actually waiting for the elevator
to go down to the parking lot after the movie. The elevator doors opened, closed, and then half-opened again.
The kids all looked at each other, said 'Screw that,' and headed for the stairs! For me that was a great moment.
It meant that the movie had worked because those kids were scared to death of a real elevator!"
- Over the course of several cold Vancouver nights, the actors had to ride the roller coaster from sun-down
to sun-rise, 20-25 times each night.
- The roller coaster sequence is a combination of the cast riding an actual roller coaster, a replica coaster
housed in an enormous set with tracks extending 30 feet up to the ceiling, green-screen elements of the cast
doing their own stunt work, and other visual effects.
- Mary Elizabeth Winstead was in The Ring Two with Naomi Watts who was in I Heart Huckabees
with Lily Tomlin who was in Flirting with Disaster with Josh Brolin who was in Hollow Man with
Kevin Bacon.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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Nope. No way this meets mama's approval. Profanity is extreme with several "f" words, and there's some
gratuitous topless nudity involving two girls at the tanning salon. Oh, and those of you who are squeamish
when it comes to blood and guts, well, this isn't for you.
If you plan on taking the youngsters then please let me know so that I can personally come over to your house
and slap your brain.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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The trailer doesn't depict just how gory this movie is, but if you've seen the previous two Final
Destination installments then you know what to expect.
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THE GIST
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If you enjoyed the previous two installments or if you just enjoy creatively gory death scenes then Final
Destination 3 is most likely your style. Otherwise you should probably just pass this one by.
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