Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001)

It's hard to keep consistent quality when a film series goes beyond one entry. Sometimes you get a decent trilogy, sometimes a good sequel, but very often once they hit number three, it all goes downhill. 

I'm sad to say that this is the case for the third entry in the Tremors-series. 

But it's not a total loss. You can tell that at least, they made an effort. But in this instance, the much smaller budget shows and not all the actors present perform to the best of their abilities. 

Storywise, now Burt Gummer is the go-to-guy for exterminating Graboids. First we find him on a killing spree in Argentina, before it all goes back to where it began: Perfection, Nevada. It's been eleven years since the first Graboids and the 'town' has built sort of an economy around it. The store is now owned my Mr Chang's niece Jodi and there is a new kid doing Graboid safaris. Sure, the few tourists are just duped, but it's a living. But soon, there are new Graboids and once again everyone calls on Burt to save the day, though he is now not allowed to actually kill them because of conservational concerns. What's even worse, the Graboids are now evolving faster and there is a new form after the Shriekers that makes life a little tricky: now they can fly. These newly evolved 'Assblasters' are basically Shriekers with wings. There is also an albino Graboid that apparently can't evolve. Will they all make it?

You can probably tell why this one is a bit of a letdown. It's fun that they tried to go beyond the second film with a new evolution, but in all fairness: it is reaching. The Assblasters don't look that great and their name is downright silly. Also, most of the special effects are now CG and poor CG at that. I can understand they had to work with a very, very tight budget, but it still is a shame. These shots haven't aged well at all and they didn't look all that great to begin with.

The actors do try and it is a nice touch that they brought back practically everyone that was in the first 'Tremors', save for Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward. It does give you that feeling that they tried and made an effort, but these castmembers were never the most interesting in the first one to begin with. Michael Gross does his part as Burt with relish again, but there are only so many things you can let the character do, and the fact that he now is the focal point is stretching it a bit. He is no longer just the paranoid gun-lover, but assumes more of a hero role, which is at odds with how he was first portrayed. 

Also, there is a serious lack of laughs this time. There are some attempts at humour, but they mostly fall flat, alas.

'Tremors 3' isn't an awful film, but it is no masterpiece either. It is mostly just very straightforward and won't bring anything new or fresh. If you enjoyed the previous two outings (that are several levels above this one), you might find some fun here, but it is mostly a boring film that you can easily skip.