Reviewed On: 03/20/2008 By
Pazuzu Iscariot
I'm not usually a fan of the
slasher-type horror movies but I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed the
Final Destination movies.
Final Destination 3 follows the formula of the other two which is good because it's a formula that works. Personally this is my favourite movie in the franchise with
Final Destination 2 a close second.
The initial premonition happens in a fairground as a group of teenagers prepare to go on a rollercoaster. Wendy Christensen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) has a vision that the rollercoaster is damaged and the ride is going to end in death for everybody. She freaks out and demands to be let off the ride along with her boyfriend's best friend, Kevin Fischer (Ryan Merriman), but unfortunately not her lover. In the ensuing chaos seven passengers miss the ride, are thrown off or leave in disgust. As predicted the rollercoaster crashes killing everybody on board, but those seven should have died and fate has a way of catching up with you... in the Final Destination movies anyhow!
Kevin found the story of flight 108 online and tries to convince Wendy that she has had the same sort of vision. Ever sceptical, Wendy won't listen but as the other passengers of the rollercoaster begin to die in the same order as her vision, she begins to notice clues in the photographs that she took at the fair and tries to stop death settling the score.
The concept of this movie is quite simple; it's a slasher flick with death itself being the evil maniac. The whole movie is pretty much a montage of teens getting killed in horrible accidents. The brilliance is the way that each scene is set up, you know who's going to die but you are never sure how or exactly when, James Wong makes a superb job of showing many potential hazards as the scene builds up then puts them together in a chain of accidents leading up to an always gruesome death. The two girls dying under the sun beds is a great scene, as is the guy who's head is crushed at the gym, then there's the nail gun accident... in fact all of the deaths are well thought out and exceptionally brutal.
The ending is good as it reinforces that you cannot escape death (this is where I felt Final Destination 2 let me down a bit) and as this is a story quite independent from the others there's plenty of room for another sequel, which is currently being filmed and is directed by David R. Ellis who directed Final Destination 2. Hopefully Mr Ellis can live up to the standards set by James Wong.
