“The Chronicles of Riddick” (Universal Pictures)
Vin Diesel reprises his role as “Riddick” in the sequel to “Pitch Black” which is titled “The Chronicles of Riddick.” Since not many people watched “Pitch Black” this film is basically starting from scratch. Truth is you can scratch this one too. It is a well made sci-fi flick that has staggering sets and special effects, but Diesel as a leading man is running out of steam.
The film opens with bounty hunters pursuing a fleeing Riddick. He is running across a bare planet, trying to find a place of refuge. It seems Riddick has been in isolation for some five years and now a certain group wants him to return to his home planet.
When he returns it doesn’t take long for him to be contacted by a wise woman named Aereon (Judi Dench). She tells him it is his fate to kill the conqueror of his planet. Shortly thereafter the planet is conquered by a people called the Necromongers, whose leader is the Lord Marshall (Colm Feore).
Thandie Newton is on hand as a plotting woman named Dame Vaako. Her husband (Karl Urban) is second in command and she would like to see him move up the ladder. But she also has to get rid of Riddick who is upsetting her plans.
All of this is told out in scenes that look like drawings from a masterful comic book. A lot of it takes place in the dark or in dark areas because Riddick has sensitive eyes. One annoying thing about his character is he is constantly taking his sun goggles on and off.
Diesel is just not leading man material. He doesn’t have the acting skills or the personal charisma to carry a film. Although he gets fairly strong support from Feore, Newton and Dench, the movie still bogs down and is never truly exciting.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity and violence.
At two hours the movie is too long; much too long to observe Diesel mutter and grunt. The story has gaps and spaces that are never filled in, but after a while you don’t even care.
The look of the movie is good, the plot of the movie is not. In short it is all totally “Riddick” – ulous!
I scored “The Chronicles of Riddick” an unwritten 4 out of 10.
