Good story, Not enough for a whole film

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

"X-Files" veterans Glen Morgan and James Wong return to the franchise they created and make a third film that's about as good as the original, but that's not saying too much since the first film was kind of a mixed bag. Completely ignoring the first two films, this one starts with an entirely new set of teens, led by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who while taking pictures at the carnival with her new fangled digital camera has a premonition of death that she and her friends are all about to be killed on a roller-coaster. As with the prior films, they "cheat" death by not going on the roller-coaster that soon kills a slew of people and they are then each killed or nearly killed in various elaborate sequences. Wong and Morgan do come up with more interesting of sequences and build better suspense than part two, and they actually do improve on the first film with having a more likable of leading character in Winstead, though credit probably goes to Winstead and not Wong and Morgan (though Wong and Morgan probably do get credit for including a Joey Ramone bobble-head in Winstead's bedroom). As with the other films, this isn't a classic, but is watchable for horror fans.

Back in the '80s, this would have been a slasher film, with a physical killer murdering the teenagers in gruesome ways, one by one. Two decades later, the new millennium favours 'curse' type slasher movies, probably because of the Japanese influence This is the third entry in a film series in which the unseen presence of death claims teenagers one by one in increasingly inventive and gory ways.I saw the first FINAL DESTINATION at the cinema and loved it – a fun, gory horror film, unlike the kind they were making at the turn of the century. I ended up watching the second one on television and I didn't like it as much, finding it a sometimes insipid retread of the first film's antics. This one does away with any big storyline and just focuses on the unpleasant deaths, throwing in the angle of a camera that predicts the deaths (another familiar plot device; THE OMEN used it back in the '70s).In a way, this makes for a speedier, pared-down ride as there's no predictable set up or boring bits of exposition. We're just straight in the action (with the most mundane accident, at a carnival, yet) and then the gruesome deaths begin. The ante has been upped here and the weird kills are all very nasty – whether it's the naked girls frying on their sun beds or the car accident that sees part of a guy's head fly off. Blood sprays through the air freely and despite some dodgy CGI here and there, horror fans will have a ball with the level of gore on display. The bit with the nail gun is probably the most vicious of the entire franchise.I also liked the ending, which threatens to peter out but becomes another big set piece that ties up loose ends nicely. Seeing as how most of the cast are unlikeable or irritating, you won't mind much when they die. Mary Elizabeth Winstead displays little of the presence she showed in DIE HARD 4.0 and is a bland leading lady, while her friends and other teenagers are plain annoying – especially the token black guy, who they make the dumbest in the movie. Thankfully there's another Tony Todd cameo to enjoy, although this time it's his voice alone we here, as he plays the voice of the devil at the fairground. Unsurprisingly a fourth entry has been announced, with the added gimmick of 3D to get audiences to go and see it.

I must say that after a rather wanting sequel, I've had very lowered expectations from Final Destination 3. Luckily, this have turned out to be in my favour, as this film has impressed me more than I could anticipate and has spared me unnecessary disappointments.The main gist of the story remains the same, the premonitions of foreboding doom made famous and turned into a franchise. This time, it's a roller-coaster accident. Again, the survivors start dying, and must learn to read the signs and recognize death's design in order to intervene and save each other. Seeing as how director James Wong (who's done a much better job here than in the first film) had obviously had no intentions of offering anything innovative or new, and had just meant to capitalize on the already successful motives - the best way to look at FD3 is by comparison.The good: I find it difficult to connect to the whole damsel in distress routine when it's forced upon the main protagonist, but objectively speaking - it was called for. The first two films showed very brave young people in their late teens or early twenties, and being so brave and composed in the face of such tragedies and dreadful predicaments damages suspense of disbelief. This time, Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Wendy) is a much more realistic character, much more human in the face of death. Also, using pictures as signs and hints (while completely unoriginal in Horror) was a nice addition. And finally, the ending was the best one yet. Involving a few surprises and half- twists, and not at all comical like in the first film (altogether, there is nothing comical about this film, no comic relief or anything of the sort. Good to see Wong has learnt from his past mistakes!). Before I forget - Candyman Tony Todd doesn't appear in this one, but his voice does!The bad: first of all, the famous nude cheat. Come on. Was it really necessary to degrade the film and audience by throwing in two naked girls? Not to mention degrading the actresses (Chelan Simmons and Crystal Lowe, who've performed beautifully delivering a very convincing and authentic duo of shallow bimbos - yes, it takes some skills playing the part right). Second, the unnecessary addition of viciousness felt forced and redundant. There was no need to add a vindictive side to Death, having it simply doing its jobs and killing those whose time had come was more than enough.All in all, I still don't think the film had the same impact as the first, and I did miss the sense of continuity which appeared in the 2nd film, but if you're a fan of the franchise - you'll definitely enjoy this one.

After a premonition saves a group on a roller coaster crash, the survivors begin to die off in a series of grisly accidents and forces the remaining friends to find a way of stopping the deaths from continuing.Overall this was quite an enjoyable and wholly entertaining part of the series. Like with the others, what really works well here is the setup for the initial premonition, as the scenery at the carnival is quite well-handled and really amps up the suspense in here. The party atmosphere is successfully blinded by the demonic statues, games and the different signs showing up around the park even before getting to the main roller coaster which is yet again is a rather imposing event which lets the action go on quite nicely with all the suspense around them. There's also the start of the film's best part here with its spectacular action scenes really carrying this one along with spectacular scenes that just overwhelm with the spectacle and the ingenuity to pull off the scenes here in the absolutely thrilling crash scene that occurs here. It comes off incredibly well and even plausible as to how the crash could occur in real like taken to an extreme in allowing the deaths to occur here in really great ways, and set up the later encounters quite well. There's plenty of big action encounters here from the sequence in the tanning salon that comes off incredibly cruel, the crash at the drive-up window and the insane tension at the hardware store makes this a notable sequence with all the different potential hazards at play before getting to the crazy death scene. There's also the grand finale at the celebration which features some thrilling scenes, a rather exciting horse-chase sequence through the grounds and really gets a great resolution to this one. Along with the usual high-quality gore for the kills, these here make this one quality enough to hold off the few small flaws here. The main issue here is that there's very little set-up for the kills which are just so quick and over so briefly that they don't have much in the way of suspense about them. This is compounded by the other factor here with the lame mystery about the photographs not being all that well-handled and it just doesn't have much intrigue about them. These here are what hold this one down.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Nudity, Graphic Language and a non-bloody animal killing.