Movie Review: Final Destination 3 (2006)

The movie stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ryan Merriman, Kris Lemche, Sam Easton and Texas Battle.

My wife and I had planned on watching the Green Bay Packers take on the Indianapolis Colts in preseason action last night. However, after the game was (correctly) canceled due to poor field conditions, we quickly had to come up with an alternative. Netflix recently added this movie and I figured it was as good of choice as any.

We've seen this movie in the past and thought it was an OK movie both the first time we watched it and last night. However, after re-watching it, it remains my least favorite of the Final Destination films.

I'll start out by saying there were some things I did like about this film. One of the main ones was I liked how the various deaths were predicted in photographs taken the night of the roller coaster accident. While this did, admittedly, throw a wrench into the whole "Death was cheated" plot (how could Death leave clues like that if it wasn't expecting them to survive the crash?) it did add a relatively entertaining element to the various victims' deaths. This is because, even though the clues point to how they are expected to die, they are just vague enough to keep you guessing about what is going to happen next.

My biggest complaint about this movie is, other than the photos, it really doesn't make a whole lot of effort to separate itself from the other movies in this franchise. Other than those photos and the nature of the accident (a roller coaster rather than a plane crash), the plot is a little too similar to the original. Other sequels, in comparison, either had the characters trying a new way to cheat Death or Death, itself, throwing a curve ball.

I also thought the movie, overall, was kind of predictable. Yes, there was some uncertainty about how the various victims would die. But, their order and when they would perish was pretty simple to figure out. In fact, the one secret the film tries to keep (who the mystery passengers were) isn't overly difficult to guess.

This predictability includes the ending, which was kind of weak, especially when compared to other films from this franchise. Had that been a little stronger, I probably would still rate this as my least favorite of the films. But, a little less predictability wouldn't have hurt.

If you haven't seen the movie, it's worth taking the time to watch it once. But, when compared to the other films in the franchise, this one is somewhat forgettable.

My Grade: C