Final Destination 3: Threequel that put fun back into filmic fatalities hits TVNZ

TVNZ OnDemand

Final Destination 3 is now available to stream on TVNZ OnDemand.

Final Destination 3 (R16, 89mins) Directed by James Wong ***

In 2000, it was a mid-air explosion. Three years later, it was a massive motorway pile- up. For this 2006 threequel, death’s device for multiple-fatality mayhem turned out to be a rollercoaster.

The senior class of McKinley High is celebrating the imminent end of their studies with an evening trip to a local theme park. Keen to experience all the fun of the fair, the teens’ spirits are high. And there to document it all with her digital camera for the high-school yearbook is Wendy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).

But Wendy has a bad feeling about the park’s central ride, Devil’s Flight, and after experiencing a premonition of disaster, she freaks out. This causes a group of her friends to miss their chance on the coaster. Lucky them. Wendy’s vision comes true and many plunge to their deaths.

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It isn’t only guilt that those left behind have to deal with. Death has a new plan for each of them.

Returning to the franchise that made his name, original Final Destination writer-director Wong successfully recaptures the spirit and intent of the first two movies without really adding anything new. Complicated set-ups, inventive deaths and a terrific atmosphere of dread are Final Destination hallmarks, and Wong and co- writer Glen Morgan have again carefully and craftily plotted their set pieces, encouraging the audience to search for clues in, and out, of the frame.

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Despite its premise, Final Destination isn’t all about fear.

While this instalment’s central device of tell-tale photographs is a blatant rip-off of The Omen, this is still far less derivative than most of the horror Hollywood has served up in the 21st century.

Proving that you don’t need a man in a mask to generate fear, Wong manages to wring genuine tension out of many scenes and will leave you thinking twice about visiting drive-thrus, tanning salons or hardware stores.

But Final Destination 3 isn’t all about fear. For film and history buffs there’s the delight of spotting homages to horror directors in character names (a franchise speciality) and references to presidential assassinations in place names.

Ultimately, though, this simply puts the fun back into filmic fatalities.

Final Destination 3 is now available to stream on TVNZ OnDemand.

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