Impressive trash!!! Blood and Rain Blood for the Masses
Chronicles Of Riddick
Written and Directed by David Twohy Starring Vin Diesel Alexa Davalos Colm Feore
Review by B.L.Morgan
Rating: 3 out of 5
When I saw the commercials for this film I thought, "Man, that movie looks so cool, I have got to see it!" I've been a fan of heroic science fiction since I was a kid. I grew up reading Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard, so I thought that Chronicles Of Riddick (hereafter referred to as C.O.R.) was made for guys like me. It might have been, and I did have some fun watching the movie. The problem was a lot of the fun I was having was laughing during what was supposed to be some of the most serious scenes.
C.O.R. takes place some years after another science fiction movie that Riddick (played by Vin Diesel) was in, named Pitch Black. Personally, I liked Pitch Black much more although the special effects in C.O.R. were much more impressive.
The gist of the story in C.O.R. is that the Mecromongers are conquering every planet in the galaxy. After they take over a planet, everyone either converts to their religion or they kill them. Riddick (a guy who just wants to be left alone) was prophesied to be the savior of the galaxy. Of course he does save the galaxy even while stating several times he really could give care less about anybody.
I like Vin Diesel as Riddick. He fits this role perfectly. He looks mean, he acts mean and does some mean things. Vin Diesel's Riddick is the best thing about C.O.R. Hey, he looks so mean I don't want to tick him off so he might never get a bad review from me.
The action scenes were all done pretty good although the speeded-up blurry effect (that's also been used in some video games) tended to get annoying. Here's advice to filmmakers: Guys who go to see action adventure want to see it when someone gets their butt kicked. They don't want to see a blur of motion, hear pop-pop-pop and the fights over. Slow it down. Give me time to see your great photography. I'll appreciate it more.
Now the 2 major problems with this movie.
1: The major names of places and races were extremely ignorant. The bad guys are Necromongers. Guys who want to kill everything. A planet of extremely high temperatures is Crematoria. Obviously. A race that can disappear and float on the wind like spirits are Elementals. If you are going to use symbolic names please hide it a little better and have a little bit of respect for the viewer's intelligence.
2: The dialogue got extremely stiff and some of the one liners from the bad guys were unbelievably funny when they were supposed to be menacing. Example: The head of the Necromongers tells an elderly lady something to the effect of, "I will plow you under!" That line might belong in an X-rated flick somewhere but it doesn't fit in a big budget science fiction film.
Conclusion: Did I run to the ticket counter and demand my money back?
No!
Most of the movie was good. Parts of it were excellent.
Are there better movies in the theatres to spend your money on?
Definitely!
Mediocre Pitch Black was great. It was edgy and had a tight narrative. Director's cut or theatrical cut: Chronicles of Riddick was bloated, slow, and just flat out mediocre. Not a bad movie but average all-round. I don't know if making a PG-13 movie was intended to bring in more of a broad audience, but it definitely lost out on the hard core sci-fi fans from Pitch Black.
The Chronicles of Riddick
This is one of my favorite movies, if you are a Vin Diesel fan you can't go wronge with The Chronicles of Riddick. The action and special effects are great.
Barbara
Riddick Part Three Got the three Riddick movies as a gift and watched all three over the weekend. I can't believe I liked them so well. I enjoyed this third Riddick storyline best of the three. It is very different than the first movie and the cartoon middle tale. The scenery on each planet visited is beautiful but very different than the other settings. Riddick's character has grown. So has Jack's. (I wish they could have used the same actress as the first movie.) This movie is less the immediate danger of fighting monsters and more about religion and old-style conquering. Riddick prevails in the end, and I think we are set up for more sequels. Yay! I am looking forward to them.
ACQUIRED TASTE I must admit at first I didn't like CHRONICLES. But little by little the movie grew on me. I kept coming back and re-watching the DVD many times a year. Honestly, I didn't realize I was even doing it.
Every time I re-watch CHRONICLES, I pick up something I missed the previous 30-40 times I watched it. The movie is different and now I've come to see the genius of the writer who made this film. CHRONICLES was ahead of its time. It's a thinking film with a big budget. It is definitely darker with no moral goals like Star Trek. It's like Mad Max in outer space.
I can see why this movie did better on video. It is a movie you have to buy because you'll need to rewatch it a few dozen times to get the whole picture. It is too overwhelming and thought provoking to get in just one sitting. At first, you won't like it because you won't understand most it the first time. You need to watch it again and again.
This is just my opinion. I can't wait till it comes out on Blu-Ray for a great price.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
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