Marc Blucas stars as Kevin
–
a smart, quiet seminary student with a dark secret he has been hiding
for
years, even though it eats away at him.
Suddenly, he has become the target of a serial
killer, The Riddle Killer
(that’s the best the writer can come up with?), who taunts
his victims with
details of their past, exposing their sins, and forcing them to solve
little
riddles that can save their lives if they act fast enough. Famous police psychologist
and author
Jennifer Peters (Justine Waddell) quickly takes an interest in the case
since
The Riddle Killer murdered her brother, and Kevin’s best
friend, Samantha
(Laura Jordan), joins the two to help solve the mystery, so Kevin
doesn’t end
up being the latest victim.
Who is The Riddle Killer? Can they catch him in time?
Thr3e
is a huge rip-off of
Saw
(right down to the voice of the killer and his little games he plays)
that also suffers from bad acting
and repetitive plotting. Waddell
barely
is competent as we listen to her monotonous line readings and wonder
why she
has scored any job higher on the Hollywood
food
chain than posing in a bikini in a Doritos commercial.
The actress is completely unbelievable as a
police officer as she displays no depth, no screen presence and no
strength.
Blucas gets through this one
with his reputation in tact as he does a fine job as the disturbed,
troubled
young man, and Jordan
does what she needs to as the dedicated friend who convincingly spends
most of
the movie worrying and fretting. And,
don’t get me started on Priscilla Barnes (the third blonde
lady from Three’s
Company or is that Thr3e's Company?)
as the crazy Aunt who gives a demonstration of how NOT to act in a
movie (you
think she would have learned something from Don Knotts or John Ritter). Over the top and chewing
the scenery would be
compliments for what Barnes does in Thr3e.
The only thing that saves the movie is a somewhat
interesting turn of
events towards the end.
For most of Thr3e, director
Robby Henson resorts to the same pattern of action in almost every
scene as our
heroes learn of some sort of bomb, run around trying to diffuse it or
free
someone in danger, then dive as the bomb explodes behind them. After three of these (or
should I say
thr3e?), I think I was ready for some other sort of attack. Can’t The Riddle
Killer try to shoot someone
or maybe put on a hockey mask and chase after them with a chainsaw?
Worst of all, the action
scenes rarely advance the plot or help us understand the characters
better. Plus,
writer Alan McElroy puts himself and
the movie into a bind as it starts off with The Riddle Killer chasing
after
Jennifer, but he quickly shifts focus onto Kevin.
Yes, he comes up with an explanation late in
the movie, but it feels more like a way to justify or correct the
earlier
mistake, which shouldn’t have been made in the first place.
You do get wrapped up in
whether or not they can outsmart The Riddle Killer, and Thr3e has an
interesting ending, and but it takes a long time to get there.
1 Waffle
(Out
Of 4)
Thr3e is
rated PG-13 for violence,
disturbing images and terror.
Copyright
2007 - WaffleMovies.com
