The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)

Bigger isn't always better, but for anyone who enjoyed Pitch Black, a nominal sequel like The Chronicles of Riddick should prove adequately entertaining. Writer-director David Twohy returns with expansive sets, detailed costumes, an army of CGI effects artists, and the star he helped launch--Vin Diesel--bearing his franchise burden quite nicely as he reprises his title role. The Furian renegade Riddick has another bounty on his head, but when he escapes from his mercenary captors, he's plunged into an epic-scale war waged by the Necromongers. A fascist master race led by Lord Marshal (Colm Feore), they're determined to conquer all enemies in their quest for the Underverse, the appeal of which is largely unexplained (since Twohy is presumably reserving details for subsequent "chronicles"). With tissue-thin plotting, scant character development, and skimpy roles that waste the talents of Thandie Newton (as a Necromonger conspirator) and Judi Dench (as a wispy "Elemental" priestess), Twohy's back in the B-movie territory he started in (with The Arrival), brought to vivid life on a vast digital landscape with the conceptual allure of a lavish graphic novel. But does Riddick have leadership skills on his resumé? To get an answer to that question, sci-fi fans will welcome another sequel. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

It's not interesting in my opinion.

It's not interesting in my opinion. The action and acting are over the top. The plot is like that of a bad science fiction. June 8, 2008

My kind of science fiction.

Follow-up to sci-fi horror Pitch Black in which Vin Diesel once again plays anti-hero Riddick, this time called upon to save the universe of mankind from the seemingly invincible armies of the Necromongers, aliens who demand that all men convert and become as they are or die. This film is a very different beast to Pitch Black, as it is not set on a single planet but on various planetary locales, and the action is much more epic in scope. The special effects in this film are second to none, the Necromongers make for excellent villains, there are some great set pieces - watch for the sequence on the burning planet - and the final showdown between Riddick and the leader of the Necromongers, Lord Marshal (played by Colm Feore) is outstanding. We also get to hear more of Riddick's back story, origins that were merely alluded to in Pitch Black, and a touching relationship between Riddick and his protégé 17 year old Kyra (played by Alexa Davalos), one of the characters from the first film who here with Riddick makes a formidable fight partnership. All in all, my kind of science fiction film. My only complaint is that there was no explanation given of what the Necromongers were, and what being converted to one of them meant, which meant that an extra edge of horror that should have been in this film was lacking. As a result, I can unfortunately only give this film 4 stars out of 5 but still, a very, very good film. June 8, 2008

Fun, dumb movie

Chronicles of Riddick is a big budget upgrade from Pitch Black, with more money for lavish effects and sets. While Pitch Black was a much smarter movie, in my opinion, this film is still a lot of fun -- brainless action and visual effects eye candy.

Original sci-fi, this movie is not. Twohy seems to have spent most of his money on the SFX here and little of it on the writing. Watching this again on HD DVD the other day, I couldn't escape the feeling of deja vu at a number of points in the film. It takes quite a bit from other more successful films and just mushes them together. I spotted bits from Predator, Aliens, Star Trek's Borgs, the Matrix, and several other films... Maybe even a bit of Bladerunner. The machine w/ the comatose people lying down feels like a direct rip off of the clairvoyant triplets in Minority Report, for example. So do the sonic blasters.

Another big complaint is Karl Urban. He's pretty useless in this film. Lots of teeth gritting and speaking through his shut jaw. I suppose that's what he calls emoting anger. I could also live without the "Director's Cut", as the inserted 15 minutes of film actually take away from the story. The theatrical version of this film was much stronger. The tacked on footage feels out of place and really disrupt the flow of the story.

Dame Judi Dench is her usual commanding presence, even though it's a small part. Nick Chinlund is also good in this. As for picture quality, this HD DVD boasts a stunningly beautiful transfer. For $14, just pick this up. Sure, it's dumb, but it's also fun. May 23, 2008

Good review

The previous review it good except for one falsehood - the opening menu. Fight is the short, theatrical version - convert is the extended version. I didn't realize this myself until after having this disk for almost a year. May 12, 2008

An Entertaining, If Imperfect, Pulp Science Fiction Action Throwback

[Spoilers abound, so be forewarned.......]

The pulp fantasy/sci-fi approach is nothing really new. Lucas flirted with it with Star Wars, 1980's Flash Gordon gaudied it up, and John Milius pumped it up with his take on Conan the Barbarian. However, it's been sort of dormant recently, with movies opting for a "serious" epic treatment (Lord of the Rings), playing it safe (Chronicles of Narnia), or aiming for a post-modern, grim tone (The Matrix). 2004 saw the release of "The Chronicles of Riddick", an unlikely sequel for the modestly performing "Pitch Black", a science fiction survival movie about the survivors of a crashed transport on a desolate planet. Unlike Pitch Black, "Riddick" is not a smaller movie in the line of Alien. For some people, this is why they don't like it (which is understandable). For me, Riddick was great as a revival of the pulp sci-fi style of movie-making, with the obvious benefit of modern special effects delivering the visceral appeal needed for this kind of movie.

"The Chronicles of Riddick" sees director David Twohy fleshing out the universe hinted at in "Pitch Black", where humanity's rapid expansion throughout the Galaxy has resulted in both the creation of a sanctioned mercenary/paid criminal storage system of law enforcement, and the rise of some bizarre fringe cultures, one of which is a nomadic army of crusaders called the Necromongers. Cloaked in the trappings both medieval and futuristic, the "Necros" have been going from planet to planet, laying waste to worlds and "converting" survivors into new members for their ranks. Meanwhile, Riddick (Vin Diesel), one of the three survivors left at the end of "Pitch Black", has been hiding on an ice-covered world for years, due in part to the fact that he's a ruthless killer. When a "merc" named Toombs tries to nab him, Riddick hijacks his ship and goes to the world of Helion Prime to find out who put a private bounty on his head. It turns out to be the Imam who he left with at the end of Pitch Black. The Imam, along with an "Elemental" called Aereon, think that Riddick is the "right kind" of bad guy to stop the Necromongers from wiping out humanity in their crusade. As it happens, the Necros are already heading for Helion Prime, and end up conquering the planet. Riddick, who wants nothing more than to slip through the cracks, ends up being swept into the conflict, and barely escapes the Necromonger's mobile citadel, only to end up being captured by Toombs, and sent to Crematoria, a hellish prison world, where he runs into Kyra, who was the other survivor of the "Pitch Black" incident. It's only a matter of time before the inevitable confrontation occurs between Riddick and the Lord Marshal, leader of the Necros.

Visually, this movie is something else. The movie's massive budget was partly used to build massive sets, with computer graphics shouldering the rest of the burden. It's the visuals that keep the movie pumping along as Riddick heads from one situation to another. While there's a sort of underlying thematic unity to the movie's universe, no one motif is overused. The harsh, purple-lit, arctic wastes of Planet UV-6, the sun-drenched sands and Middle East-inspired city streets of Helion Prime, the gothic, metallic blue of the Necropolis city-ship, the grimy caverns of the Crematoria prison, and the weird, frozen lava floes of Crematoria's surface (where Riddick tries outrun a 700 degree sunrise)- these various settings keep the viewer from losing interest. Where the visuals end, the two-fisted action picks up. Whether it's the massive (if too short) battle for Helion Prime, Riddick trying to evade capture, or Riddick and other prison escapees making a desperate stand at dawn against a Necromonger squad, the movie delivers some kinetic scenes. Even many of the "quieter" scenes, such as the Imam talking with Riddick on his balcony about the coming crisis, or the Necro Vaako searching for Riddick's trail in the sands of Helion Prime, kept my interest.

With a pretty good cast at hand, including Colm Feore, Keith David, Judi Dench, Karl Urban, and Linus Roache, it's surprising that the dialogue doesn't really rise to the actors' level. There are some groan-worthy lines here, and not necessarily in a "so bad it's good" sense. Sometimes characters will try to talk tough, only to have it fall flat in a big way. On the other hand, it's the naked contrast involved in putting prison bull Riddick smack in the middle of the high-falutin' pretentions of the Necromongers and Helion Prime that ends up keeping this film light on its feet. David Twohy keeps you guessing whether he takes this too seriously, is playing things for laughs, or is balancing both approaches. The ongoing interplay between the Dune-on-steroids, Byzantine attitudes of the movie's macroverse, and the sweaty, more earthbound hijinks of Riddick, the mercs, and the goons who run Crematoria keep things from ever getting too esoteric or conversely too mundane. By the end of the movie, when the ending of Milius' "Conan the Barbarian" is expressly referenced, I felt I had gotten my money's worth. Though the often stiff dialogue handed to characters like the Imam, the Lord Marshal and Vaako dares you to laugh at what's happening, the overall package delivers the pulp, sci-fi novel experience in high doses. Those who have only seen the movie in the theater or cable will notice changes and additions, including scenes that add a bit of "pseudo-mystic" to Riddick (and his true origins) that may aggravate fans of Pitch Black's gritty approach, but do serve to help the movie's epic pretentions. Star Wars or Lord of the Rings don't have to worry about being replaced, but there's plenty of room for a newcomer to at least share the same shelf space. I only hope that the not so great initial box office return won't discourage studios from giving the green light to another Riddick movie of the same scope. April 12, 2008

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