THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK
RATING: 7/10
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PLOT:
It's five years after the events that took place in PITCH BLACK and the
psycho-killer with a heart of gold and eyes of steel named Riddick, is
still
being chased by the bad guys. Once again, the man is underestimated by
many, as
he kills, maims and delivers pile-drivers upon the race of the
Necromongers, a
breed of peeps geared up on taking over...not just the world...the goddamn
universe! Riddick...kicking...ass...ensues!
CRITIQUE:
In order to delve into the main reason why this sci-fi action extravaganza
kicks almighty ass, I would refer back to my review of this film's
predecessor,
the small sci-fi-cult-flick-that-could called PITCH BLACK in which I began
my
critique with these very succinct words: "Vin Diesel rocks!" After seeing
that
movie, I was taken by both the actor and character of Riddick, in a way
that I
could only describe as "rocking" over and over again. Now as much as
writer/director David Twohy has drawn out an even cooler, darker, more
futuristic, all-involving epic motion picture here-at the end of the day,
the
film really draws its fire and energy from both the lead actor, Diesel,
and
character of Riddick, who simply, well...rock!! As soon as this guy shows
up on
the screen, as soon as he utters his first few deeply-voiced and
undecipherable
words, as soon as he punches the first Necro-asshole in the face, Riddick,
his
charm and his all-out anti-hero self had me tied to his ass (what the
fuck?)
and riding the whole way along! He's the ultimate badass with the ultimate
chip
on his shoulder and I couldn't get enough of him. In fact, I would
actually
have liked to have seen more of him, since the film wanders into
Trekkie-like
exposition every now and again, only to be wrestled back to the man with
the
ultimate plan: Riddick!!! I'm writing about him so much because I truly
believe
that if you're not a fan of this hard nut with the soft inners, the man
with
the icy-metallic eyes, the man who can kill another man with a friggin'
tea cup
(!!)...I'm not sure if you'll enjoy this ride as much as I did. I'm buying
my
own pair of goggles tonight!
But Riddick aside, I'd also like to tip my cap to the filmmakers for
creating
an ultimate new world society in which neither Vancouver, Prague or a
Hollywood
backlot were to be found, but sprawling universes, gorgeous skies and
vistas,
brilliant production designs and believable CGI (except for the
computerized
rat-dogs) blanketed the story and Riddick with enough credibility for us
to tag
along. We're also presented with a decent story that surprisingly touches
upon
quite a bit from its predecessor (yes, it would help if you watched PITCH
BLACK
before seeing this one), but also develops a whole new arena of fun and
planetary bar-hopping that takes us along a species who want nothing more
than
to recruit everyone to their side (or to kill them all), a murky, feverish
planet designed to incarcerate only the worst of the worst underground,
mercenaries, a bounty hunter doing his best impression of Ron Perlman,
Necro-jerks, a little political back-stabbing and thankfully: a friggin'
hottie! God bless the casting department for tossing the very gorgeous
Thandie
Newton into this male-based cock-run. Her moments on-screen were a
delight, and
along with Alexa Davalos, as the believable partner-in-crime for our man
Riddick, a nice balance to all of the testosterone running amuck. On the
downside, there's no reason for Judi Dench to have been in this film, and
I
don't mean from the point of view of the "actress", so much as her
character,
who simply didn't bring much extra to the story (or maybe most of her
scenes
were cut?)
That said, the film moves at a nice clip, the action is kinetic and well
dispersed throughout the movie, but a little too "fast" for my taste at
times.
I wanted to see Riddick actually sticking his knife into the baddie's
guts, but
could barely make out the moves. Slow it down, guys...what's the rush? In
that
same vein, there was an obvious lack of gore, over-the-top violence or
swearing
in the movie, all three of which I personally believe would have made the
film
even more badass, but I understand why they were likely cut in order to
get the
film down to a PG-13 rating. A few odd scenes or pieces of dialogue also
rang
"corny", but that's to be expected from these epic sci-fi flicks.
Forgiven.
Those smaller quirks aside, you really can't afford to miss this great
summer
popcorn ride, particularly if you consider yourself either a fan of PITCH
BLACK, Vin Diesel or sci-fi flicks in general. It moves fast, it packs a
punch
and a half, delivers a cohesive enough of a storyline that you needn't
explain
every little detail to your girlfriend as she gets lost in Diesel's pecs
(as
you get lost in Newton's heaving bosom) and a lead character that is about
as
charismatic as they come in terms of badasses. Thank you, Mr. Diesel, for
returning to your peak form here, and thank you Mr. Twohy for delivering a
very
cool, all-encompassing sci-fi feature that will hopefully generate more
slick
follow-ups (word on the street is that this is part of a trilogy) One
piece of
advice though: don't "pull a Wachowki bros" and give us a complex
story-line
that only you and a few Manga computer buddies can understand after a
night of
smoking shit. Stick to the basics: action, Riddick, chicks, planetary
intermingling, baddies, even worse baddies, kickass effects, a couple of
creatures...lather, rinse, repeat. PS: Great ending...bring on RIDDICK
2!!!
Where's JoBlo coming from?
The Arrival (8/10) - Attack of the Clones (8/10) - Dark City (9/10) -
Galaxy
Quest (8/10) - Hellboy (7/10) - The Phantom Menace (8/10) - Pitch Black
(7/10)
- Soldier (5/10) - Titan A.E. (7/10)
Review Date: June 9, 2004
Director: David Twohy
Writer: David Twohy
Producers: Vin Diesel, Scott Kroopf
Actors: Vin Diesel as Riddick
Colm Feore as Lord Marshal
Thandie Newton as Dame Vaako
Genre: Science-Fiction
Year of Release: 2004
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(c) 2004 Berge Garabedian
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X-RAMR-ID: 37983
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1287758
X-RT-TitleID: 1130966
X-RT-SourceID: 573
X-RT-AuthorID: 1021
X-RT-RatingText: 7/10
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