Highly Overrated But Still Good

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

A serial killer known as the riddle killer kills the brother of some lady cop. She almost dies as well. Not long after another guy starts getting calls for someone who gives him a riddle to solve or else, stuff and loved ones blow up. And this killer loves blowing stuff up in exaggerated explosions. First, the guy's childhood dog, then a bus full of people, and assorted buildings. The guy's childhood flame shows up to help. And the lady cop is investigating. They don't seem to get anywhere as the killer is always years ahead of them knowing everything and manipulating everything.What the killer wants is for the guy, a theology student, to confess his sins. The guy does so eventually- as a boy he was bullied by some older boy and at some point the locked him in an abandoned building, presumably killing the older boy. So the theory goes that the killer is this bully. The killer goes after his family now- an aunt who wears a tiara, an uncle who wears a funny hat and collects newspapers, cutting out all the bad news, and a slow cousin. Next he goes after the girl and then after the aunt.But then something is revealed about our guy that changes everything, then they sort of take it back, or do they? Three is an OK movie for what it is. A smart killer on the lose going after a good guy and his friends. It has a couple of smart ideas here and there, but it's too long and lacking in excitement. The twists are pretty good I must say, I didn't quite expect them, but mainly because I wasn't all that invested in the outcome.

Thr3e starts as police psychologist Jennifer Peters (Justine Waddell) desperately tries but fails to save the life of her brother from being blown up by the 'Riddle Killer' who has been murdering people & using strange puzzles to confuse the police. Three months later & theology student Kevin Parson (Marc Blucas) gets a call from the Riddle Killer & so begins another twisted game full of bizarre puzzles & innocent lives on the line as Kevin is forced to face his childhood demons & solve the Riddle Killer's puzzles in order to save those innocent lives, his friends & even his own life, cop Peters learns that Kevin is the Riddle Killer's new target & sets out to nail the psycho once & for all but nothing is quite as it seems as the truth is even more shocking than anyone could have expected...This Polish American co-production was directed by Robby Henson & was based on the novel by Ted Dekker, I have to say that while I didn't think Thr3e was particularly brilliant & it has it's flaws I didn't think it was a complete waste of time either & did actually quite like it to a certain extent. The first thing to note is how much of a rip-off the title Thr3e is of the excellent serial killer thriller Se7en (1995) & the two feel fairly similar although you can chuck a little bit of Saw (2004), Fight Club (1999) & Hide and Seek (2005) as it borrows their plot twist's, style & overall feel. It's also interesting to note that Thr3e was the first release from Fox Faith, a devision of 20th Century-Fox devoted to 'Christian friendly' films & as such has no real torture, gore, profanity or violence & tries to center it's plot around the basic notion of the good & evil within all of us & our personal battle between that good & evil. The script uses the medical condition dissociative disorder as an explanation for the various twist endings & the eventual final twist at the end, I must say that while I liked the idea behind the twist there are a few plot holes like the way Sam & Jennifer talk on the phone & have direct contact with each other even though Kevin is not there, it's also very hard to understand how Kevin could lock himself in a room & be 'in' two places at once as it were. The crazy family who turned a slightly crazy kid into a full-blown loon is a bit of a stretch. In short Thr3e has some interesting ideas, it moves along at a decent pace, there story is reasonably gripping & with a better script & stronger direction the multiple twist ending could have been a real killer but the lack of any violence, death or exploitation elements makes it a bit dull to watch & the ambitious twist just leaves too many plot holes & somewhat destroys the credibility of everything that has happened before.As already mentioned there really isn't any violence here, a dog gets blown up & a guy is killed at the start off-screen & that's it. The film looks pretty good with decent cinematography that is a little gray looking but is alright. There are a few explosions which look OK but don't really excite that much. Some of the puzzles set by the Riddle Killer are obscure to say the least & how they figured out the second puzzle was a bus I'll never know.With a supposed budget of about $2,400,000 this looks alright & has decent enough production values & a couple of things get blown up although special effects are few & far between. Although set in America this was actually filmed in Lodz in Poland. The acting is average, no-one really stands out while Bill Moseley has a small cameo.Thr3e is a film at odds with itself, there's the potential for a clever little serial killer thriller but a silly twist ending that leaves lots of plot holes & a complete total lack of exploitation or horror elements ultimately works against it. In the right hands this could have been great, as it is it's a mildly interesting curiosity at best.

The reviews will lead to believe that this is a bad movie. Maybe you will dislike it. But if you take their opinion alone, you are seriously missing out.To sum it up quickly, the movie revolves around a guy who is being stalked by a killer. The killer leaves him vague riddles and short time limits to solve them.The story is a lot more detailed than I can really explain, but it is not confusing to follow. I would like to point out now that this is not a horror movie. If you are looking for blood and gore and nothing else, then move on. But this is definitely a suspense "hold-your-breath" thriller. Because I accidentally read some spoilers before watching the movie, I already knew what was going to happen. But I still sat at the edge of my seat, wide-eyed and excited. This is a psychological thriller to the max.Yes, this is a movie with Christian undertones, but for those of you who are turned off by that, don't be. Most of the religious blah blah dissipates in the first 10 or 15 minutes. Overall in the movie, I didn't think there was a lot of overdone religion in it - though just a hair less of it would have made the movie better.As a horror fan and a thriller fan, I think you should really check this movie out. Don't expect gore and blood and you'll love it.Despite the negative reviews on here, give the movie a chance. You'll thank me.

The direction is totally sub par , the acting is labored and the plot is as thin as a gossamer , DO NOT waste your time or money on this shallow movie . I shudder to think what prompted the "Actors" to agree to do this movie . I can see some talent , but the script and direction is total crap. The story could have been a winner but the screen play was abysmal , I actually feel sorry for the actors having to act out as directed. I will never again waste my time viewing anything directed by Robby Henson! If he could stoop so low as to make this movie in this form then he is on my black list ! My advice to fellow movie buffs is to stay away from this movie and to be very aware that any future movie directed by Robby Henson should be avoided like the plague