| Product: |
Final Destination 3 (DVD) |
| Date: |
09.09.06 (183 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: A fun, fear filled ride
Disadvantages: Predictable and does nothing to advance the franchise
This is a film only review.
Final Destination 3 is an unexpected continuation of the franchise first brought to us by Wong and Morgan (of X-Files fame) back in 1997.
The original was a hip, wise cracking blast. A mixture of horror and thriller blended perfectly to make a hugely entertaining film that kept you rooted to the edge of your seat biting your nails.
The sequel, which appeared a few years later, eschewed the horror side for vicarious thrills only a scary thriller can bring you, but this time it went more for the comedy thriller genre and as such made FD2 a nice surprise and not what was expected. The question that passed my lips on hearing of the plans for a third outing was which way was the third one going to go?
FD3 reverts back to the original in casting by making them predominantly college aged and not the mix of ages from 2. The premise is exactly the same again in that the opening scenes will show you an accident in which everyone will die, this turns out to be the premonition of the nominal star of the film (after all the outrageous deaths are the real selling points of the film not who is in it!)who then manages to save some of the people about to die by warning them. Death is not going to be pleased by this escape from his clutches and will want to get his bony hands back on them.
From that moment on FD3, like the previous 2, is about the way death chases down the survivors and whether or not any of them will manage to escape the clutches of the grim reaper. That is the entire plot of FD3, really all it consists of is a number of inventive, scream inducing, adrenaline building accidents as death claims those who escaped him before.
So the plot is paper-thin and the script and dialogue pretty awful so what is it that makes me kinda like this film? Well mainly it is the speed with which the whole package moves at, there is very rarely a slow moment in the running time and once it gets started it really does move at a terrific speed, the tension they manage to bring into some of the deaths scenes as you watch things build up (and building up in some completely ludicrous ways it has to be said!) is very well filmed and edited and the cast are uniformly awful, which fits in just right for this kind of film!
This is a modern day b-movie horror that, while not being as good as Slither, is certainly not trying to be anything than good fun. The makers realise this and have decided to stick two fingers up to anyone who tells them it should be anything more than that. Sometimes a horror/thriller can be huge fun as long as they are not taking themselves too seriously whilst making it and I don’t think Wong and Morgan were. They know the audience they want to hit and tailor the film for that audience very successfully, though getting a 15 certificate in the cinemas may have cutthe audience they were aiming for a bit!
Anyone watching this after the first two will, as I said be there for one reason only… to see some stylish, inventive deaths, and there is no doubt that that is where most of the thought has been channelled in this movie. You know, most of the time, when someone is going to die but the long, torturous build up is what makes them entertaining. You see the accident starting to happen but it is how it climaxes which brings the screams, at least it did in the screening I saw of it. Yes all the deaths are even more over the top then the ones from the first two films but you don’t really care as they are fun to watch!
Whether the franchise can survive another outing is open to debate. It really does depend on whether or not they can subtly reinvent the basic premise (as they did with FD2) and on whether or not they can come up with a bunch more imaginative death scenes. From my own point of view they managed it well enough with this one that I would still go and see a fourth if they made it, which I guess is one of the best recommendations I could say for this one.
The cast in this one are pretty much nobodies, and no one stood out enough to suggest they have glittering careers ahead of them. They were adequate for the job, as was the direction, nothing special but nothing outright bad that stood out either. It does all that was required of it, letting suspense building the death scenes and keeping focused in all the rest.
A word has to be said about the genius of a trailer this film has as well. I don’t like trailers much and avoid them as much as possible as the often give away far too much. This was what I thought about this one and if you do see it you’ll see what I mean, it gives away far too much about the deaths that are in the film, or so you think. In fact it is the most brilliant of trailers for this kind of film, it leads you down the wrong alley. What you think you see in the trailer isn’t exactly what you think. Extremely clever editing involved in it and a round of applause for whoever put it together I say.
I would certainly recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the first two or someone who enjoys a good comedy thriller that is a bit tacky. It is certainly fun and lives up to what you should expect from it.
Summary: Good for a night in but not a classic, doesnt let down the overall series
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