FINAL DESTINATION 3 discussion

IS there anything you can't find a positive word for, IndianSummer? Your relentlessly upbeat outlook is driving me crazy.

Those movies are harmless fun. As long as the death sequences are as well designed as they have been in the past, then I'm more than happy to see another one of these movies show up every year or two. And frankly, I think the only thing keeping these movies out of the league of franchises like A Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th is a charasmatic killer like Freddy, or an iconic image like Jason in his hockey mask.

Oh and I could sure as hell do without Ali Larter showing up again.

It will need to bring the pain in a major way to beat out "cop's head pulped by free-roaming log" or "kid squashed by pane of plexiglass/glass".

Death seems to be the most charismatic killer of all. In just two movies, I like him better than Freddy or Jason already. And the "junkie gets cut up by barbed-wire fence" was my favorite.

These movies would be great if they didn't have that pesky character and plot nonsense.

The scariest thing about these movies is how underrated they are. Good or bad actors in it, one of their greatest assets was the inclusion of no-namers instead of recognizable faces in them (better done in Part 2 than in 1). Seriously, I really thought junkie guy made it to the end (only to be offed before the credits, just like Kerr Smith in FD1). Oh, and death by barbecue? That was awesome.

Despite not knowing how it's being marketed there in the US, my prediction is that Firewall is gonna have tough competition this weekend.

Gotta pad out the running time somehow.

More deathing.

Who would have thunk it, Brigden gets snarky about a film made post '89

Well then, the damned screaming ad on the site (and others sites) made me sure of avoiding this on the big screen.

Yeah, I hate all new movies. Especially new horror movies. Ignore the post I made about THE DEVIL'S REJECTS being the best horror movie in two decades.

I've seen FD3 twice. It tries to be something of a bridge between the first two -- the story and plot of the first movie, and the over-the-top mayhem of the sequel. It's not entirely successful, but it's a whole lot of fun once the movie gets rolling. The rollercoaster crash isn't anything to write home about (it's the least effective disaster opening of the series), but the murders are ingenious as ever. Who wouldn't be thrilled by the sight of someone's head having nails repeatedly shot through the back of their skull by a nail gun?

I was somewhat surprised that the first few deaths weren't that imaginitive as FD2. The roller coaster scenes didn't come close to the highway. When they showed the pole I expected to see someone impaled on it. The suntanners was gruesome but the weight lifting one seem to cut away too quick and the fan belt was also a bit fast.

The hardware store was great with the nail gun and the 2 deaths at the carnivale were sweet. And the subway at the end should have been the beginning. It was much more detailed than the roller coaster and reminded me of the highway scene. Still a fun movie though.

Though the most shocking thing about the movie was seeing a guy bring his 8 or 9 year old son to it. He did smarten up and leave after the weightlifting scene. I'm just amazed they actually sold the guy a ticket for his son.

Still fun, but definitely the least interesting of the series. I thought the whole subway thing killed the movie's momentum and had "We Had No Ending" written all over it. And I gotta say, I was missing Ali Larter and Tony Todd.

IMDB can verify this, but I'd bet my balls that the voice of the subway conductor was Todd himself. Made me smile, which was more than I could say about the ending. I was having a good time, and I did spot a narrative drag once the subway sequence started, but man, that ended was chilling. That near-apocalyptic shot of all those bodies in the aftermath was a bit much, and a nice moment to cap three movies of merry carnage. Dark, sobering, and with a kicker of a finale sending cutie Mary Elizabeth Winstead to a hellacious grave. I get chills just thinking about it.

I thought the rest of the film did an excellent job mixing the aesthetics of the grtuesome, dumbed-down second one (where they cheated by having Death pick up and move things) and the promise of the first one, with the emphasis on youth being robbed by the randomness of death. I really liked the McKinley character- his point of view deconstructed the premise and gave it some bite, which was needed considering the expectedly flimsy characterizations.

And the kills were choice, as always. They need to make one of these each year. The rollercoaster opening was weaker than I expected (and shot in a way to suggests that while filming this part they hadn't yet abaonded the 3D aspect). Still, you always forget how much you love roller coasters until you ride one again, and this really captured the tension and thrill of waiting for a potentially dangerous ride.

The others just kept topping each other. The tanning salon was surprisingly sickening, while the drive-through head-chopping was just delish/malish. The head slam in the workout room was nice, although it made me want to find "Death Spa" on VHS, and the entire fireworks scenario was both a bit small but also endlessly resourceful. Thank god no CGI horses.

Seriously, they should make one of these every year. And one of them HAS to be 3D.

The only death I could recall two nights afterwards was the nailgun. The tanning salon thing has been in so many other movies.

The photos thing was a mistake, inmho. They had the characters, and thus the audiences, concentrating so hard on the pics, that when the kills came the pace was all snafu & I still didn't see the connection (particularly in the warehouse.)

Didn't really see the point of the ending. We all know from the previous movies that you can't cheat, so the big reveal that she'd been 'tripping again', but too late, seemed redundant.

Dunno why, but I liked the second movie's take, where they were all strangers of different ages.

Fun enough flick, but I was hoping there would be some new angle on the mythology of it, with Morgan & Wong at the helm.

The voice was intended to be read as Tony Todd's, but the end credits have Bludworth-his character-listed as played by someone else. So my guess is they couldn't get him, so they found a guy who could do a decent impression of him and reduced the role to a voice-over.

And there go my balls.

I couldn't really get on board for the first two (in fact, I couldn't even make myself watch the second one), so I highly doubt I will be able to handle this one either.

It's Tony Todd. Wong's said in interviews that they had him come in during ADR and record both the devil statue's lines and the final lines as the train conductor.

Having enjoyed Final Destination 5 (which was pretty fun), I'm checking out the 3rd movie which I skipped out on.

 

Man, that roller coaster opening is WEAK.

 

EDIT:  That cut from the two flaming tanning beds to the two coffins?  HILARIOUS.

 

EDIT2: That was really weak overall.

Edited by mcnooj82 - 1/20/12 at 12:26am