Final Destination 3 Review

 

Funny story, I wasn't scared of roller coasters but I did find them to be a bit sketchy. But then I watched this movie and afterwards I had a reframing moment. Little kid me sitting down watching this on Sci-Fi (now SyFy) came to the thought of "Wow, these filmmakers seem way more scared of roller coasters than me. I'm might be being a big pussy". So afterwards the next time my family took me to an amusement park (I forget which one it was) I took the chance, rode a roller coaster, and now I'm a fan of them. Now enough of the childhood stories! Let's get to the review!

Final Destination 3 is a supernatural horror movie and the third installment of the film series. While Zide/Perry Productions once again produced, the company was helped by the returning Hard Eight Pictures but production was also handled by Practical Pictures and Matinee Pictures with New Line Cinema once again distributing. James Wong not only returns to direct but once again writes the story along with a returning Glen Morgan.

The story is, it's been years since the explosion of Flight 180 and the Route 23 pile up, high school student Wendy Christensen, her boyfriend Jason Wise, along with their friends were enjoying celebrating their graduation at an amusement park. Things quickly change when Wendy had a vision of them along with other classmates dying in a horrible roller coaster crash. After the crash, Wendy finds out her and the other survivors are gonna die in the order they would've in the original crash. Her only clues in the hopes of saving them is the pictures she took at the park.

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

Boy there's quite a bit this time around. For starters there's characters. Yeah yeah yeah I know, these movies aren't known for strong characters as I've also mentioned previously with my review of the first two movies. But here I forgot I a lot of characters. By the end I remembered Wendy, Kevin, Frankie, and Ashley and her friend Ashlyn. But I forgot a lot of other characters as well but some of them are just written for the body count. Then there's the dialogue. Again I know this is Final Destination and not Tarantino. But the very beginning has some very in face dialogue. I'm serious count how many times in the opening characters use the words "kill", "death", and "die" or use some old saying or hyperbole related to the word death. Now despite these issues there's still plenty to enjoy. Much like the previous there's some good use of dark comedy and I do like how Wendy's arc touches upon themes of guilt and how she's feeling powerless when usually she's the control freak in a lot of situation.

• Positives

Once again some of my praises well be kept brief because there repeats, starting with the pacing. Much like the previous installments that is an easy watch to get through and can be easily rewatched again and again.

Then there's the kills. Once again the kills provide a darkly fun guessing game of what exactly Death has planned for the unsuspecting victim or victims. But I think my favorite is the opening roller coaster ride. Like I said doing this time I was viewing roller coasters as not scary but kind of iffy things, but seeing those deaths cause a reframe in me. Because wow, nothing in my imagination was nearly as bad as what the opening did. Yes I suspect the seat straps to come undone and I fall out, but never once did I imagine gruesome as hell dismemberments. So yeah, big fan of the roller coaster disaster.

The last thing I'll praise is Mary Elizabeth Winstead's performance. Winstead shines in this, she gives her character [Wendy] a determined yet haunted hero, bringing a bit of emotional depth to what otherwise could've been a standard or bland character. Not to mention she also has some pretty good chemistry with Ryan Merriman, where they're either being comedic and being protective of each other by just being a shoulder to lean on or saving each other when Death comes close to nearly killing them.

While this isn't the strongest Final Destination film in the series it's far from being the worst. Issues might be present but there's quite a lot to enjoy.

My final rating is, Okay.

That's a wrap. Due come back on Saturday, Oct 18th, where I'll take a break from Final Destination and review a horror sequel I've been waiting for since 2021, Black Phone 2. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.