By: Cameron Tyo
April 20th, 2025
Warning: There will be what some people consider major spoilers for the movie Final Destination 3
As the journey of watching all the Final Destination movies for the first time before Final Destination: Bloodlines is released continues, we come to Final Destination 3, released in 2006.
Unlike the last two movies, in my opinion, the film right off the bat did a better job of setting the eerie tone that would be felt throughout the movie. The shouting from people riding rides and shots of the game foreshadowing that death would be a prevalent part of the plot and that no matter what, one will not escape, was enjoyable to hear and see. After that, we’re introduced to Wendy Christensen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), her boyfriend Jason Wise (Jesse Moss), Carrie Dreyer (Gina Holden), and Kevin Fischer (Ryan Merriman), and as they ride different rides like the High Dive, joke about death, and have friendly banter, not only are we introduced to the rest of the main characters but through Wendy’s photographs she takes for her school yearbook, we can capture what are to be omens of things yet to come.
Without spoiling too much, the main character, Wendy, gets a premonition of an incident that is to kill many people. In this case, a hydraulic from the coaster Demon’s Flight ruptures, and part of the track is damaged, derailing the ride vehicle and sending people from their seats to their deaths. It is standard Final Destination from here on out. Wendy begs to get off the rides with others, following suit as a commotion occurs with others not getting as lucky.
Slowly but surely, the ones who escaped death meet their untimely demise through freak accidents of sorts, and some of the deaths are some of my favorites in the series.
The whole tanning bed death scene with the Ashleys (Crystal Lowe and Chelan Simmons) is great. The irony of the song “Love Rollercoaster” playing in the back and seeing the actions of not just flesh burning completely off but having the tanning bed’s glass shatter right on the girls from the heat as they are stuck inside with a board wedged between the two beds preventing both of the friends from getting out is the most drawn out death by far. It’s definitely the most painful death anyone would have to go through in all of life, as shown in the movie. Frankie Cheeks (Sam Easton) getting his head scalped through the fan of a truck was definitely unpredictable, and seeing the way it was shot and the aftermath was cool to see.
Like the other Final Destination movies, there were a bunch of “got ya” moments the movie would throw at you, where you thought someone would die one way, but just acted as a catalyst that helped move along something that would actually kill someone. This was most prominent in Sultan’s gym and the hardware depot scene, but without spoiling everything that is for you to look up or watch for.
I thought the pacing of the film was decent enough. Once the first death happens for the people who were able to escape the roller coaster incident, Wendy comes up with the connection that her photos she took the night at the graduation party at the amusement park might be omens of things to come with different background elements, environments signaling how one is to die as well as finding out that the order of the deaths is due to the seating arrangement of the coaster. The majority of the movie deals with Wendy and Kevin trying to warn and save people from death.
The movie seemed to lean more into the emotional side of things by showing Wendy‘s guilt and depression she feels after surviving incidents and because she was given the premonition. It shows her bonds with her sister Julie (Amanda Crew) and the bond that grows between her and Kevin, who ends up becoming her protector throughout the movie, which I actually really enjoyed.
Another thing I enjoyed was the cinematography. The whole process of entering the Devil’s Flight coaster, the medium close-ups of the coaster seats, and people entering and exiting from the turnstiles, as well as the red lightning, gave the sense that people were walking into their deaths. Throughout the movie, different angles are used to show the disturbing nature of the scene and how people react to the things that happen near them or, in some cases, the lack of reaction to things only the movie viewers can see.
I thought the acting was decent enough for what you expected of a Final Destination movie. As for the plot, it was also decent. Most people don’t really watch Final Destination for the complex narrative, but for the deaths. In that case, most of the characters come across as one-sided, from the perverted alumnus Frankie to the stubborn athlete Lewis Romero (Texas Battle). I thought that Mary Elizabeth Winstead did a good job at portraying the control freak whose life becomes filled with paranoia as she loses people around her and frantically tries to protect them, knowing her own life is on the line. The same thing applies to Kevin, who helps her. I also like Kris Lemche, who played Ian Mckinley. He actually became one of my favorite characters in the movie due to all the quips he had throughout the film, which were both clever and thoughtful. He also got some character development. Only a hair, but it’s not that expected for the franchise.
Overall, I think Final Destination 3 is a pretty good movie for the series it comes from, and it is probably my favorite Final Destination movie I watched so far out of the three. I’m excited to watch the other two and even more excited to see what Bloodlines has in store for fans of the franchise.
My Rankings so far:
1. Final Destination 3
2. Final Destination 2
3. Final Destination