Director: James Wong
Venue: DVD
DVD Features: trailers, making of, "choose their fate" feature, animated short, documentary, extended scenes, commentary, DVD-ROM material
Trailer
Even though this is the third installment in the Final Destination series, it’s not terribly necessary to have seen the previous two. Some reference is made to the first movie, but none at all to the second. There are no repeat characters from any of the prior cast either. Expect a high school atmosphere with a decent dose of gore mixed in. It’s different from the average teen horror flick in that it’s not a “slasher” movie and doesn’t follow the usual “if you do drugs or have sex, you die” morality. The overlaying premise of all three movies is as follows: one person has a ghastly premonition. That person saves a group of people from a horrible disaster. Since Death has been cheated, each person who was initially saved is now a target for some subsequent twisted demise. Basically, it’s as if Death must catch up and even the score. Each survivor of the first accident must die in the order they were originally intended to. One of the plot devices that I find entertaining is the trail of “clues” that make it possible to determine how the next person will die.
In Final Destination 3, a group of senior high school students is enjoying their class party at an amusement park. Wendy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) our “clairvoyant” is taking pictures for the yearbook. If you haven’t figured out what the disaster is going to be yet, you don’t have long to wait before the suspense is relieved. After she saves a group of fellow students, she goes home and mourns the death of her boyfriend. It isn’t until she reviews the photographs from that dreadful night that she starts to notice a pattern. Her jock friend Kevin (Ryan Merriman) also tips her off to something he read online about Flight 180 (from the first movie). The pair join forces and try to save the lives of the remaining survivors. Naturally, it’s hard to make believers out of everyone. For a teenage horror film, Final Destination 3 is a refreshing departure from most of the standard movies in that genre. I like the idea of “Death” as the antagonist, rather than some scary dude in a mask. There is a satisfactory amount of blood and guts. And, as previously mentioned, I like trying to decipher the messages and figure out how the next person will meet their end.
Plot: 3 ½ stars
The acting in this movie is what you might expect. The cast is a group of (I suspect) twenty some-things posing as teenagers. Final Destination 3 isn’t going to be nominated for any academy awards, surely, and I’d be surprised to see any of the actors going on to a prosperous Hollywood career. Certainly, none of them will show up in Final Destination 4, if there is one. I have definitely seen worse acting though.
Acting: 2 stars
I was satisfied with the amount of action in this film. There aren’t any terribly long periods of monotony between the bloodshed and there is a palatable degree of suspense. Once again, don’t expect any car chases or kung fu.
Action: 2 ½ stars
The important visual effects in this movie, naturally, involve the deaths of each character. There isn’t any detectable CGI, and I think the film was better off without it. The gore and special effects are gruesome and realistic. I love spattering blood! Final Destination 3 doesn’t offer anything in the way of other-worldly atmosphere, but it wasn’t meant to. All in all, visually stunning it was not, but neither was it cheesy or fake.
Visual: 3 stars
Regarding the dialogue in the movie, I was pleasantly surprised. I expected a group of teenagers to produce dialogue that was trite, forced and obnoxious. There was only one scene that felt out of place.Wendy turns, at one point, to her younger sister for support. Apparently, she’s so very burdened with guilt over not being able to save her boyfriend’s life, that she needs comfort an understanding from her sibling. I believe the scene was meant to give the impression of drawing the two characters closer together, but it just doesn’t work. The entire movie wouldn’t have suffered at all had this scene been cut. It doesn’t really play through. And, although Wendy is supposedly a person who needs to feel in control, and that line is driven into the ground throughout the film, there is no evidence through the acting or any other part of the dialogue to make this trait believable.
Dialogue: 2 ½ stars
In my opinion, this third movie didn’t measure up to the previous two. Maybe it was the cast of characters, or the repitition of the plot, or just that the other two were better all around. I wouldn’t consider buying the DVD- although it has some interesting options and I might watch it one more time, but that would be final.
Alternate viewing choice: Final Destination 2
IMDB site
Official site
Rotten Tomatoes review
***Note: If you found this review via IMDB, please let us know by leaving a comment. Thanks!***
No comments:
Post a Comment