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How entertaining? ★★★★☆
Thought provoking? ★☆☆☆☆ 1 September 2013
This article is a review of RIDDICK.
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“There are bad days, and legendary bad days,” Richard B. Riddick (Vin Diesel)
A bit part in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998) and the voice of the machine in Brad Bird’s THE IRON GIANT (1999), it was PITCH BLACK (2000) that launched Vin Diesel into the pop culture cinema melee. Like TREMORS, PITCH BLACK is an A-movie masquerading as a B-movie. Riddick, a brilliant character, was born. A resourceful, lethal anti-hero feared throughout the galaxy. The sequel in 2004 did not do him and the actor any favours, miring the lean thrills with space opera jargon such as the “under-verse” and “Necromongers”. The violence surrounding the lead was toned down too. THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK wanted to run before it could walk. The world building needed further instalment(s) to grow its mythology (and fan base) before a big budget spectacle should have been launched. Underwhelming on many levels, that looked to be it for the most wanted convict in the star system. Thankfully, and like its eponymous protagonist on many occasions, the franchise has been given a reprieve.
A bit part in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998) and the voice of the machine in Brad Bird’s THE IRON GIANT (1999), it was PITCH BLACK (2000) that launched Vin Diesel into the pop culture cinema melee. Like TREMORS, PITCH BLACK is an A-movie masquerading as a B-movie. Riddick, a brilliant character, was born. A resourceful, lethal anti-hero feared throughout the galaxy. The sequel in 2004 did not do him and the actor any favours, miring the lean thrills with space opera jargon such as the “under-verse” and “Necromongers”. The violence surrounding the lead was toned down too. THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK wanted to run before it could walk. The world building needed further instalment(s) to grow its mythology (and fan base) before a big budget spectacle should have been launched. Underwhelming on many levels, that looked to be it for the most wanted convict in the star system. Thankfully, and like its eponymous protagonist on many occasions, the franchise has been given a reprieve.
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The filmmakers have learnt from the mistakes of the previous episode, even going as far as having Riddick proclaim to himself early on, “Got to find that animal side again.” The only real complaint is that they have perhaps swung too far in the opposite direction: Embracing the B-movie elements but jettisoning the A-movie craft. RIDDICK’s visual effects are creaky, direction full of gusto though lacking panache, and the dialogue grafted on from a slasher flick. There’s even some gratuitous nudity, absent from the other chapters.
“You keep what you kill,” Richard B. Riddick
There is though much fun to be had for horror fans. Gore is plentiful. There are monsters. Diesel turns up his roguish charm to the max, and ensures he is mostly nonplussed at what is chucked at him. And there’s a lot. Setting his own broken leg by wedging it in some boulders, and then sans anaesthetic, or sterilisation, screwing in his own armour to keep the bone in place. All of this before the 15 minute mark. RIDDICK opts to divide itself into three subgenre tranches:
- Man tackles antagonistic nature,
- Man is hunted and hunts, and
- Man versus monsters.
The chutzpah and glee and fan pandering has to be given props.
THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK ended with our anti-hero as the king of the under-verse. RIDDICK wastes no time in removing him from that bloated story. We find him left for dead on a brutal desert planet. He needs to get off it. So he announces his presence on the inter-planetary mercenary communications network. Violent sociopaths on the side of the law arrive, one of who is BATTLESTAR GALACTICA’s awesome Starbuck a.k.a. Katee Sackhoff. Time is not wasted in establishing their ruthless credentials. There are now plenty of satisfying foes for Riddick to get bloody with.
“It ain’t me you’ve got to worry about,” Richard B. Riddick
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