Released: 02/10/06

Viewed: 5:15pm 02/18/06

Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ryan Merriman, Amanda Crew

Directed by: James Wong

New Line Cinema Official Site of the movie

Director James Wong who powered the imaginative original comes back for another shot of screaming teens outwitting Death in Final Destination 3. And in the process he derails a promising franchise favoring flash over substance. There's plenty of gore but no tension, no horror and no distinction to make us care about this story or these characters.

The premise for Final Destination has always been pretty cool. Groups of people, who are supposed to be killed in a huge accident, are saved by one of the group that has a vision of their bloody demise and stops them from being involved. They are then killed one by one in series of complicated Tom and Jerry style coincidental accident. So the movie becomes about knowing how to see the warning signs and then avoiding the actual accidents.

In the first two films the signs were as creative as the deaths. Things that seemed random but had secret meanings. The brilliance of this is the pay off when the event actually comes true. In Final Destination 3, the majority of these clues are from photographs of the soon to be dead taken on the day before they were killed. Interesting in theory, but why would Death offer up clues about how someone was going to die if his original plan of death for them failed. I realize I just asked a theoretical question about the motivations of a ghost and that it makes me sound crazy, but it doesn't make sense.

It doesn't come up (although it should have) but what if they all avoid their deaths a second time? Do they have to look in older photos for Deaths "back up back up plan"? It just bums me out because they took the best elements of the first 2 movies and removed all the coincidental coolness of it.

I loved the second movie. Its damned was a group of people that were now alive because of the events of the first movie. They were trickle down survivors that Death was setting up to take out in one foul swoop. But they avoided it again, learned the patterns, and started their own little game. Sp the story is a brilliant new take and just for fun they put in hands down the best major accident of all the movies. That freeway accident is brutal to no end.

In 3, I was hoping they would take it to the next level. I have no idea how, but something, anything that related to the grand scheme of things. Something that was related to the larger story. Because if you can't make it better, if you can't add on to it, then why bother?

They didn't bother. They totally drop the ball. James Wong decided to just make the first movie over again using new characters and new accidents. It would be somewhat acceptable if the accidents were intense, but the roller coaster disaster looks like a day at the amusement park compared to that freeway disaster. A safe, non-dying day at the amusement park. A few of the deaths are pretty cool and in one of them you see boobs, but overall it all felt like a watered down version of it's predecessors. Like I tease in the comic I envision them having problems coming up with new ways for the characters to die if this series should continue. And I do hope that there are more movies, because as bad as 3 is, it's still a great concept that can work over and over again.

It's why I'm not too upset about the decision to just do a stand-alone story. It sucks, but at least it doesn't affect the big picture. FD4 could seriously come back strong.

Acting is fine, but there are no real standouts. There are no real stars. Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ryan Merriman carry the movie well enough but I couldn't stop thinking their characters were idiots long enough to care about them. Yeah, it's one of those horror movies. One where you're constantly thinking: "Why don't you do this, idiot. You're an idiot. Stop being an idiot." That's more of a script problem than anything else. These kids did the best they could with what they had. They were convincing. I believed they were idiots.

Don't bother seeing this one. It's a flat story with nothing to make you really think, that's surrounded with the uneasy expectation of waiting for people to die. The only real reason to go is to watch the people die. There are some good accidental deaths but the set up for it is excruciating. 3 out of 10. I'm grading lower these days. Grading closer to watch these movies should actually be getting I think. This one takes a hit because it stalled a franchise that actually has potential. I wouldn't be surprised if we get a direct to video 4th film and then nothing afterwards. But, it actually had a decent opening weekend so, you never know. Americas loves their crap.

DVD worthy?: No Chance. If they sold a clip DVD of the people dying that was like 6 minutes long ? I might pay a buck for that, but that's it.

If you liked this movie check out: Final Destination

If you really like this third installment, just watch the original. It's smarter, scarier, and (of course) more original. I still say that the second is easily the strongest of the three by far, but 3 relates most back to the original in terms of content and storytelling.

When Final Destination came out in 2000 it was really great. A fresh new idea that was told in a very creepy way. Death was really hunting down these kids taking them out in truly complicated and twisted ways. Flash forward 6 years and all the things that made the original great have gotten tired and sloppy. The deaths are bloodier and more graphic but much less inventive. Much less satisfying in the long run.

Trailer Hitch: Stay Alive

Finally, a horror movie based on a video game! Not just based on a video game like Bloodrayne or Doom, but actually based in a video game. Video game nerds rejoice. This movie looks like it's gonna suck hard. I actually got pretty excited after the trailer because this looks like a total crapfest, but potentially a really fun night at the movies. Here's the premise: You play a video game, and if your character in the game dies, you die in the same way in real life. Sam (who came to watch the movie with me) called it "The ring for videogames in reverse."

In the trailer there's plenty of footage from the game they play, which looks like the modern Resident Evil franchise. Not bad but still very odd to see a video game on screen. I'm looking forward to it though, because it's actually a new idea. It could actually be cool. But the video game angle will turn off so many moviegoers. It'll do as well as any movie based on a video game. I still think I'm the only one that saw Alone in the Dark.

Vote Bonus:

Wasn't sure what to draw here. Thought about drawing someone getting killed by the Garth Brooks guys but, I decided I already wasted to much though and energy on Garth Brooks. Instead I did a nice little rendition of Death. He's pretty non-threatening, but it's cool. Non movie related stuff:

Two shout outs today. Another reminder to check out my movie comic brother Gordon Mcalpin and his strip Multiplex. Today's strip rocks because it's about not only critics, but also Nightwatch. A friend turned me on to Nightwatch and I've wanted to see it bad. What do you think guys, should I see/review Nightwatch? Is there a lot of interest for it?

Last Friday I did a guest spot for a brilliant strip called Hell Ain't So Bad. I'd not heard of the strip before being contacted for the guest spot, but I've gotta say I'm glad it's creator Alexander Neuacheler contacted me because it's way too much fun to go unnoticed. Go read through. There's this story arc with the Kool-Aid guy a few months back that had me rolling on the ground. Yeah, he does the "Oh Yeah!" joke that we all love, but he builds on it brilliantly. Check it out.

Went to the New York Comic Con this weekend and had a blast hanging out with but Digital Pimp brothers Phil and Irv, as well as Clay and Mitch. It was dangerously fun. We met some great people, picked up some awesome comics, had drinks, did some jam comics, I introduced Mitch to a proper NYC hot dog. It was truly a magnificent weekend. Sorry if you missed us. I'll try to give more of a warning for the next show.