Wild Things 3 (April 13/05)

Wild Things 3 is the sort of film that delivers exactly what it promises: nudity, rampant sleaziness, and a plethora of twists and turns. As a result, the movie is actually pretty entertaining - albeit in an entirely forgettable, trashy kind of way.

In fact, that trashiness seems to be the only link to the original Wild Things - although there is a recurring character from the first sequel (unseen by me), a detective named Morrison (played by Linden Ashby). Of course, as with the first movie, Wild Things 3 almost requires the viewer to have as little foreknowledge of the plot as possible (one of the most enjoyable aspects of the film is trying to figure out who's double-crossing who). The basic storyline revolves around a rich girl named Marie (Sarah Laine), who is battling with her obnoxious stepfather (Brad Johnson) over a pair of extremely valuable diamonds. Said stepfather has problems of his own, as he's just been accused of rape by Elena (Sandra McCoy), a student at Sarah's school. Hot on the case is the aforementioned Detective Morrison, along with a Juvenile Department of Corrections officer named Kirsten Richards (Dina Meyer).

Wild Things 3's screenplay, written by Andy Hurst and Ross Helford, is peppered with an appropriate amount of silliness and over-the-top shenanigans (the first cat fight occurs moments after the opening credits have rolled, if that's any indication). With a film like this, it would be pointless to expect anything more than extreme sordidness - and on that level, Wild Things 3 delivers. That it adheres quite closely to the style and tone of the original Wild Things isn't too surprising, given the sort of cult following the film seems to have developed over the years. Though Wild Things 3 can't quite compete in terms of sheer star power (as nice as it is to see Brad Johnson in something other than a Left Behind flick, he's still no Kevin Bacon, Bill Murray, or even Matt Dillon), the movie does feature many similar elements (ie superfluous sex scenes, broad performances, campy dialogue, etc) - enough, at least, to please fans of this ongoing series.