Final Destination 3, better or worse than his predecessor?

Final Destination is one of those franchises where quality occasionally takes a backseat, giving more importance to its ability to entertain, regardless of its ability to maintain its own internal logic, or, failing that, to present a cast of characters capable of earning our empathy even if they're going to die in the end.

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A couple of days ago, I told you about Final Destination 2, a film that seemed to handle the franchise's formula very well, featuring what is probably one of the most creative and entertaining sequences since its inception in 2000. However, it had several flaws that were hard to ignore, and featured an unsympathetic protagonist.

The third installment in the series, on the other hand, seems to follow a diametrically opposite philosophy, featuring one of the best performances in all of Final Destination, thanks to the beautiful Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ryan Merriman, as well as presenting an ambiguous ending that, far from the gore, manages to generate a brilliant unease in the viewer.

If Final Destination explored the fear many feel about flying, and its sequel told us about a horrible road accident (although all the laws of physics and logic were violated in the process), Final Destination 3 manages to tap into another recurring fear, which, while not as mundane as the aforementioned examples, will surely resonate with more than one person: the fear of roller coasters and amusement parks.

The sequence itself leaves a little to be desired, but as time progresses, the film directed by James Wong makes up for it somewhat with several of the franchise's most iconic deaths, while also managing the balance between absurdity and plausibility much better, and making it less easy to judge the victims' stupidity.

There are brilliant ideas, and they're well utilized, especially the introduction of an antagonist who, upon finding themselves included on the deathlist, decides to try to kill the last person on the list to break the cycle.

Final Destination 3 isn't a work of art, and it doesn't pretend to be one. It's effective and entertaining.

This score was taken from my letterboxd account.