Review of The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) by Robert T — 25 Sep 2010

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I never thought a sequel could make pitch black seem OK. I was wrong. Compared to this, the first is... well... still pretty bad. But even so, This is a deplorable science-fiction film. It makes Star Wars Episode II seem like high art.

What is the problem of this film?

Well, for starters:

1.) Riddick Himself. This character represents filmmaking "Badassery". Badassery is where they try to make a character Badass by adding curt one liners and absurd fight scenes. And this is way to stilted to even compare to classic badasses i.e. Clint Eastwood. All in all: Vin Diesel: Good Actor, Riddick: Bad Character.

2.) The Universe. It seems that the whole point of this film is to flush out a universe we never cared about in the first place. And how does SHADE prevent people from being BURNED ALIVE by HEATING ATMOSPHERE?!?

3.) The Action scenes. These action scenes rely to heavily on a lack of spacial awareness and quick cuts, none of which last more than 3 seconds. One scene in this film reminded me of a strobe-light applied to a rave with lazers. The editor should be a sushi chef.

4.)Uninteresting Plot. Need I say more? Big ships with Mussolini on them, people who turn their digital image around inside themselves, Judi Dench fading in and out of existance? None of it added up. It felt like only the director understood this universe, and didn't bother to explain it to us.

Overall, this film was Riddickulous.

Two Thumbs down.