Final Destination 3 (Film Review)

2006 New Line Cinema
Directed by: James Wong; Written by: Glen Morgan and James Wong
Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ryan Merriman
MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 93 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 5/10

Wendy is about to get on a theme park roller coaster when she has a sudden vision of the coaster horrifically crashing and killing all aboard. She gets off the ride in hysterics before it takes off, but unfortunately, her boyfriend stays on and the coaster crashes exactly like in her vision. After some time grieving, Wendy is ready to graduate high school and move on with her life. But Death isn't done with Wendy. Everyone who got off the coaster when she did starts to die in the exact order they did in her vision...in horrific ways. Can Wendy save the others...and then save herself?
I like the Final Destination franchise, but Final Destination 3 may be the most average film of the franchise. It's certainly not the worst, but it is nowhere near the best. Filmmakers, James Wong and Glen Morgan, return from the first film, but they are missing series creator and co-writer, Jeffrey Reddick,  and it shows. The Rube Goldberg/mousetrap kills are as maliciously on-point as ever, but the story and writing is tired. Wendy learns what is going on with Death, just because her classmate and fellow future victim, Kevin, tells her essentially, Hey, this same thing happened before, then details the plots of the first two films. That's it. The film then tries to add a new element to the franchise, that Wendy can find clues of how her classmates will die based upon pictures she took at the amusement park. That does at least keep things a little more interesting, but isn't enough to breathe new life into the franchise.
As Wendy, Mary Elizabeth Winstead is solid, making her first starring appearance of two major 2006 horror films (Black Christmas is the second). Winstead and her enormous brown eyes are good enough to carry the film, as are the previously mentioned inventive kills, and Shirley Walker's always reliable, but unfortunately final musical score for the series (R.I.P.). However, the franchise does feel like it's running out of steam, which makes it all the more surprising that its eventual fifth and sixth entries feel so invigorating.