The Chronicles Of Riddick

[David Meek]

We get another "big ticket" title this weekend. Set for wide release, the $120 million-dollar sci-fi film The Chronicles Of Riddick starts on Friday. It's a sequel to the surprisingly popular small-budget Pitch Black, and stars Vin Diesel as Richard B. Riddick, again. From the trailers, it looks like it has possibilities - I just hope it doesn't turn into a CGI-fest with no story.

At some point this weekend, I'm going to grab my son and head for the local cineplex - review to follow.

[Andrew Pratt]

Here's one review I read this morning

Riddick-ulous
By KEVIN WILLIAMSON -- Calgary Sun
If the Terminator went back in time to win a game of Dungeons and Dragons, it'd be a lot like The Chronicles of Riddick.

Vin Diesel's Riddick, the hulking sociopath at the centre of this visually-sumptuous but murkily-scripted space opera, was introduced four years ago in the cult hit Pitch Black. That film, made on a comparably shoestring budget, was a taut Alien-like thriller about a group of crash survivors trapped on a monster-filled planet that existed in near-constant night. Riddick, a notorious killer being transported by a bounty hunter, became the castaways' unlikely saviour, thanks to his aptitude for violence as well as a pair of see-in-the-dark peepers.

The Chronicles of Riddick is something else entirely, transplanting the titular badass from his earlier grimy science-fiction setting into a grander, goofier universe that looks like a cross between Lord of the Rings and Dune.

It's as if Sigourney Weaver's Ripley woke up from hypersleep surrounded by stormtroopers and hunted by Darth Vader.

The Darth Vader here -- you can pick him out because he's the one skulking about in the most elaborate latex suit -- is played by Canadian Colm Feore, best known for portraying Pierre Elliot Trudeau in the CBC mini-series. Feore's villain, Lord Marshal, is the leader of the "Necromongers," an army of rubber-suited religious zealots seeking to convert or destroy any planet in their path.

Turns out, Riddick is the last of a race called the "Furyans" who happen to be the Necromongers' arch-enemies.

Will Riddick eventually decide to selflessly save the universe? Will he and Lord Marshal duke it out to the death? Will the film end on a note that presages several more sequels?

Unless you haven't been inside a movie theatre in the past 30 years, you know the answers.

For all its failings, though, The Chronicles of Riddick isn't a complete dud.

Diesel, in a role tailor-made for him, is a charismatic presense. The special effects are genuinely eye-popping. And the script, by director David Twohy, isn't without wit, particularly in the scenes involving Toombs (Nick Chinlund), a mercenary hunting Riddick for the bounty on his head.

But then the Necromongers turn up and it feels like you've wandered into Peter Jackson's editing room to watch outtakes.

Lost amid all of this are two actresses who deserve better.

The gorgeous Thandie Newton turns up as the Necromongers' answer to Lady MacBeth, Dame Vaako -- the ambitious wife of one of Lord Marshal's commanders (Lord of the Rings' Karl Urban).

But the only thing she's stretching here are the skintight outfits she's poured in to.

Even more baffling is the involvement of Judi Dench as Aereon, an amorpheous "Elemental," who exists to 1) explain what's going on and 2) act as the Oscar-winning hood ornament on Diesel's overpriced Cadillac.

Certainly, Dench wouldn't be the first respected thespian to turn up in pulp material -- Alec Guiness and Ian McKellen's respective roles in Star Wars and Lord of the Rings come to mind -- but then again, Sean Connery made Zardoz, didn't he?

(This film is rated 14-A)

[Glen]

Hmmmm. I guess it's one for the 'rent it in a couple months' list. :B

[SpOoNmAn]

saw it, loved it. But Im sure some of you expected as much from me

it'll make a great dvd for sound and picture :T

[Azeke]

It wasn't rated very good @ rottentomatoes.com, but I enjoy good special effects and Van Diesel in this type of role. I guess I'll add it to my DVD collection along with the Pitch Black DVD, which I throughly enjoyed btw.

Wow, over 100 million dollars for this production.

Fascinating,

Azeke

[David Meek]

I'd seen some of the early reviews and wasn't expecting much when I went in - think Dune meets Van Helsing. I was pleasantly surprised - Riddick was pretty good for a summer-popcorn-big-action-sci-fi movie.

The cast all the way through did a decent job in their roles, although there isn't a lot of character development for anyone. Vin Diesel's character is still the badass anti-hero survivalist that you got to know in Pitch Black, and he looks even more bulked up than before. I do wonder why Judy Dench (and her character) was there - for foreshadowing, continuity and some name recognition, I guess. Yes, you have to suspend your disbelief in some sequences, but hey, it's entertainment, not a documentary on pancreas transplants. The storyline of Riddick vs. the Necromongers breaks in the middle of the film, when off you go to a prison planet, and then comes back together a bit later.

Visually this is a damn fine effort. Just about every scene other than close-ups has some major CGI work, and it's all top-notch. Speaking of Dune, the look and feel of Riddick is what I'd visualized when I read the Frank Herbert books (but never got in any of those movies) - from the body armor all the way up to the spaceships.

This is definitely going to be an HT-buster sonically. Continuous use of the surround channels and sub. Lots of high-volume peaks from spaceships, explosions, weapons blasts, heads being smacked, you name it. Dialog is clear even with the amount of "action" noise going on around you.

Overall, I give The Chronicles Of Riddick :3: out of :5:

P.S. I can't wait to get this bad-boy DVD home! :tv:
P.P.S. I'd like to give thanks to Thandie Newton's costumer, too. Yowzah!!! :drool: :banana: