Final Destination 3 heads away from the first two movies in the series (which were linked by having some common characters) and brings in a brand new batch of players who escape death due to an uncanny premonition by one of their group, this time a high school student named Wendy (played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, one of my personal favorites), only to have death seemingly come after them, as the survivors again begin dying in a series of bizarre freak accidents. The connection to the previous movies is basically established by some internet research undetaken by Wendy after the deaths begin, which uncovers a history of similar phenomenon - groups of people who avoid death thanks to a premonition, only to all die shortly afterwards, usually under weird circumstances.
This time the 'cause of death' which claims a number of lives isn't a plane crash or a multi-car pile-up on the highway, but an accident on an amusement park roller coaster ride. The Final Destination series has become famous for some really spectacular sequences involving the various accidents and/or death's attempts to reclaim its victims, and the roller coaster scenario certainly sets the stage for a continuation of this theme. As a note of interest, an additional possible link to previous films comes in the form of the 'voice of the devil' at the entrance to one of the amusement park rides: the voice is that of Tony Todd, who also played the undertaker Mr. Bludworth in the first two Final Destination films, the eerie guy who seems to know too much about this whole phenomenon. Whether this was just a neat bit of casting or whether there's an actual connection to the voice and the Bludworth character is in the same class as all the questions about Bludworth that were in the subtext of the previous movies. It's there waiting to be explored further, should they choose to do so in a future movie.
In the first Final Destination, the group who survived were members of a high school class who all knew each other but didn't necesarily get along, and they grew closer as they faced the death phenomenon. In Final Destination 2 it was mostly strangers, mostly likable characters, who quickly knit into a cohesive group. In this chapter the survivors mostly know each other peripherally, but in contrast to the first two movies, the group grows increasingly at odds and in some cases hostile as events escalate. After noticing that the deaths happen in the same order that they would have if the premonition hadn't changed things, one character even comes up with the idea that maybe most of the deaths - including his own - could be avoided if they just knocked off the last person on the list first. So the pursuit of the death phenomenon itself isn't necessarily the only threat this time around. The acting, as usual in the series is well done; Amanda Crew from The Haunting in Connecticut (Unrated Special Edition), another of my personal favorites, is also in it as Wendy's younger (by a year) sister Julie. The special effects are fantastic.
The DVD version of Final Destination 3 makes use of a unique 'Choose Your Fate' option, where the viewer will periodically make decisions for the characters using the remote, some of which actually change the movie. Very cool feature that I'm surprised hasn't been used a bit more often; it would lose its appeal if used too often, but if used for the right movie every now and then, I think it would be good. It certainly seems more appealing to me than all the next-generation special features for Blu-Ray, like watching the movie and watching the 'making of' at the same time in separate boxes.
The third chapter of the Final Destination series doesn't re-invent the wheel of the series, it just uses that existing wheel to extremely good effect and gives it some extra twists and turns. One of the best installments in a great series, and the 'Choose Your Fate' option is an extra bonus, especially for repeat viewing.
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Final Destination 3 Blu ray - Final Destination 3 (Blu-ray)
