The Chronicles of Riddick

Riddick might not be the right character to build an epic saga story line about, but he's the right character to make a franchise with and this film proves that Vin Diesel's Riddick role is fun enough to watch with great action set pieces.

I would also like to comment on the fact that TCOR received bad reviews. Personally, I think that Vin Diesel should continue making the movies from the other screenplays that have already been written. The plot in these films (TCOR and Pitch Black) is actually quite original. From an action standpoint, the films do not lack anything. Riddick is the bad ass anti-hero that we would all like to be sometimes and they couldn't have cast the parts any better. There are some similarities between the Necros in TCOR and the Borg in the latter Star Trek movies, but who cares? David Twohy put a great spin on the Necro collective and I am eagerly awaiting another sequel. Anyone who likes Scifi and enjoys fantastic visuals will love this movie.

Just had fun watching TCOR and am pretty happy about it. Good action, great visual stuff. A worthy successor to Pitch Black, though the two films are hardly related. Vin Diesel does a good and convincing job at playing an action antihero. As usual, Judy Dench adds to the film, even though her role is small here. The story is pure pulp SF and is short and predictable but is refreshingly dark and (mostly) unsentimental. It actually also has some interesting bits and nice side stories as a (smallish) bonus. Bits and pieces have been copied from Dune, without the film being a Dune copy. Compared to Dune, TCOR has more action and fewer Lynch oddities & boring bits. In my book, both films are good, about equally so.

Reading some of the other reviews, it seems that people are fairly polarized in their opinions of this film. Like most pulp science fiction, it takes a different sort of suspension of belief from that which makes usual films work. However, the action makes it a fair bit easier, and I found it a lot more engrossing and convincing than any of the five (ridiculous but entertaining) Star Wars films, the uniformly unwatchable Star Trek stuff, or, for that matter, most blockbusting light entertainments. But that is just me. If you hate Dune, exaggerated action scenes, or (minor) plot inconsistencies, then you probably won't like this film. Otherwise, chances are good that you will.

David Twohy's Pitch Black was a dank, murky horror sci fi that took place inside a claustrophobic killing jar, all the action unfolding on one planet, and over a short amount of time. With The Chronicles Of Riddick, he lifts the lid off that jar, unveiling more planets, characters, creatures and broadening both the scope of what is seen visually and what takes place in the story. What began as a simple human vs. monster survival tale crystallizes into a full blown operatic space saga, and I loved every minute of it. Now there are a lot of people who hate it, and fine for them if they want to live inside such negativity. I was sold after the intro, in which a snarky, canine - like bounty hunter (Nick Chinlund) chases a haggard looking Riddick a across the bizarre, jagged face of a planet that would make the asteroid from Armageddon sweat. This film takes place sometime after Pitch Black, the few survivors scattered across the galaxy. There's a price on Riddick's head, which Toombs (Chinlund) intends to collect. Riddick unwittingly wanders into the path of something far more dangerous in his evasive efforts: a powerful, fascist master race known as the Necromongers are cutting a swath through the known universe, converting or killing anyone they find. They are led by the "" (Colm Feore), and commanded by Lord Vaako (another badass character for Karl Urban to another do to his rogue's gallery), a nasty piece of work who is further soured by his insidious wife (Thandie Newton). Riddick has encounter with them, as well as an old friend from former times (an all too brief Keith David) and is taken far and away, to a dangerous prison on a planet called Crematoria, where the wrecking ball of a sun fries everything on the surface every half hour or so. It all happens fast (and furious hehe), in a somewhat rushed frenzy of sci fi action, cool effects and surprisingly vicious antics for a PG-13 flick. Diesel was born to play Riddick, a growling night wolf of an antihero and endlessly watchable. There's all sorts of half Cooke ideas running around, some fun and others left unexplored. There's a prophecy involving the Purifier (Linus Roache) who has ties to Riddick's tragic past and the fate of his race, a strange elemental (Judi Dench looking confused), another person from his past (Alexa Davalos) and other intrigue involving Urban. Best to sit back and let it wash over you like the fun it is. Chinlund is hilarious as Toombs, the only character who seems to have wandered in from inner city L.A., a wide ass prick with a hate streak for Riddick and that old school charisma that carries scenes. The set pieces are exhilarating and make up for the plot which is at times spread too thinly, but never hurts the film. I love it, watch it all the time, let the haters sulk... more for us.

It was very refreshing to watch a science fiction movie with a great story and fantastic acting. I enjoyed Vin Diesel's performance as Riddick. He made the movie with his one-liners. Casting was very good. Special effects were incredible. I would give it 9 out of 10 stars. I hope there is a sequel to follow this movie. There appeared to be a time span between Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick but they bridged the gap quite well. A prequel to Pitch Black would help to establish who Riddick is and where he came from. This movie definitely took me to a place few science fiction movies do now days. I predict that Riddick will be entertaining us with more movies in the future.