The first Final Destination
(2000) was a treat. The story of a group of teenagers, who survive a
plane crash, only to be knocked off one-by-one after it anyway (because
you can’t beat death), was well written, imaginative and well
juiced with fun. The sequel, though merely a retread of the first
(except for a fantastic highway car pile up at the start of the film),
was also rather entertaining – if only because we had characters
worthy of investing in. This latest sequel, though encompassing splotches of imagination, isn’t nearly as good. FD3
is all-too over-dramatic – why bother playing the scary music and
pulsating boom, when there’s nothing on screen to be scared of
yet! – Ridiculously passé, and filled with characters that
aren’t only dull, but as daft as plywood (‘Oh, so
apparently I’m supposed to die from a firecracker. Well, then, I
will just stand around near the firecracker
case…waiting…not running for the hills, like a normal
person would!). How can you invest in them?! Heck, hand us the
nail-gun, I’ll gladly let you off a few rounds in their direction. As
you’ll have guessed from my sycophantic opener, the film’s
main set piece is a roller coaster. When Wendy (Mary Elizabeth
Winstead) has a premonition that the ride will go off the rails,
killing everyone on it (which are all her school friends), she freaks
and demands off, before it pulls out of the gate. Conveniently, her
friend’s boyfriend (Ryan Merriman), a couple of ditzy valley
girls, some rough nuts and other deviates are also forced off the ride. Keeping up? Just
in case the ‘endless’ references to what happened in the
first film don’t tip you off (within ten minutes of the film, our
male lead has done a google and discovered the case of the first film,
and proceeds to retell it - a couple of times), the film then proceeds
to rely on Carbon, with death knocking off each one of the survivors
– our two heroes, of course, are supposed to be last on the list
– based on where they would’ve been sitting had they been
on the doomed coaster. OK, so young audiences are going to love
the ghastly death sequences, which though far from frightening, are as
funny as a Tex Avery cartoon. There are some goodies here (the ditzy
chicks in a tanning salon, the muscleman in a gym…). Teens might
also like the film’s final act, which might just be the most
inspired piece of the rather prosaic screenplay. And chances are, they
may even find some of the characters interesting – but
that’s a long shot. In short, there’s nothing in Final Destination 3
that hasn’t seen before, and done better, in the previous two
films. In fact, with it’s ‘in name only’ connection
to the first two films, and no-name cast, it could easily have been
produced as a DVD premiere (the sad thing is, it was originally
conceived as a 3D film…now that would’ve been a great
gimmick!). Third time around is still light fun, but it’s
definitely not a charm. EXTRAS The DVD, thankfully - as is usually the case with these types of films
- is better than the film, in that the extras are more entertaining
than the actual film - and significantly more inventive. Yes, there's
the commentary, featurette and deleted scenes but moreso, there's this
awesome new interactive feature called "Choose Their Fate". This is
superb. What it is, is a feature where during several points in the
film, the screen turns into a carnival-style sign that gives the viewer
an option on how they would like to see the film proceed. You can
choose whether characters live or die, choose how they die, or tweak
other elements of the movie. It really is, quite novel. Unlike the film
itself. Conclusion:
Movie 60% Extras: 70%
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