Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!
Plot Summary: Death seeks out more would-be survivors after a girl and her classmates narrowly escape a roller coaster accident.
Review: For the third entry, I felt like they went back to FD1's structure for inspiration. Rather than trying to outdo FD2 with a crazier catastrophe, they scaled it down to a roller coaster losing control. Likewise, there is an increased emphasis on getting to know the characters compared to FD2; I mean, other than Kimberly, what did we know about anyone else? While the story fails to connect to the overarching plot line of the series, they do spice things up with a few, novel ideas. I really like this entry, but it does have a few glaring flaws that prevent it from being as good as FD1 and 2.
A few things do play out differently this time around. People still die in the order they would have, but now pictures taken before the accident reveal how everyone will die. This works better than you'd imagine, but it kind of opens up a whole new can of worms. Following the logic of this franchise, a supernatural force allows individuals to see a premonition of their death. Upon changing the outcome of their demise, death, as another supernatural force, seeks to restore order by killing them anyway. Sooo...wouldn't these pictures imply that the survivors were always meant to get off the roller coaster and that the premonition was necessary? And if it were their destiny to live, this changes up what we know about the series. This is merely an observation I want to address since the franchise never acknowledges this nor is it ever brought up again. Another aspect that we see for the first time is a character having a second vision; the main girl, Wendy, has a second vision at the end with her train derailing. Again, does this imply there are other forces at work in the series since this was like a slap in the face for her? She is shown the second vision with no way of preventing it except she could potentially dodge the train that hits her as she knows it's coming this time; hey, Wendy could be alive after all! Due to this cruel twist, it makes me wonder if death isn't the one giving the visions in the first place just to fuck with people! There you go, death gets bored and decides to watch people squirm a bit knowing their end is closing in. Plus, what is with Tony Todd's voice near both accidents? I have no doubt those are merely easter eggs, but it could mean more in the mythos as we still don't know his role.
What stops FD3 from being just as good as the previous two, for me at least, is the shitty CGI. Sure, they've been using CGI all along, but it's too much this time. I don't know how to explain it other than to say that the roller coaster accident looked faker than the plane crash which was made 6 years earlier. I also didn't like that this entry introduced the trend of killing all the characters off by the end. This isn't inherently a bad concept--it obviously fits the theme of the series--but it has the unintended side effect of making each entry appear as a standalone sequel. This might be why I love FD5 so much as they kind of amended this issue. Finally, I take issue with two unrealistic moments that raise an eyebrow. At the end, when the characters all coincidentally cross paths, they don't immediately think something is wrong?! Then there is McKinley and Erin's joking around that death is coming for them despite FOUR people who got off the roller coaster already dead?! Being in denial is one thing...but still at the joking phase? Yes, this is nitpicking...oh well.
All things considered, this is still a great sequel. You get your fill of "carnage candy," but, at the same time, enough was changed to make this stand out when compared to the first two installments. The deaths aren't quite as impressive as FD2, but the characters are more interesting. The usage of the photos is cool, and the twist about two unknown passengers makes for a nice reveal toward the climax. They did consider ending the franchise here, but I'm glad they kept on going.
Notable Moment: When McKinley starts talking smack at the funeral. Yeaaah, because that would happen.
Final Rating: 6.5/10
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