Review of The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) by Rajesh M — 19 Dec 2013

'Pitch Black' was kind of a star-making role for Vin Diesel (xXx). Oh, sure, he voiced the Iron Giant and had a small role in Stephen Spielberg's 'Saving Private Ryan' - still probably his best performance to date - but before 'The Fast & The Furious' mega-franchise started destroying brain cells, this was his moment to shine as an action star.

After it looked as if he'd be a bankable star, this flick was made. It basically undid the mystery of Riddick and made him a catalyst for a summer blockbuster - with pretty tepid results. Stacked with a cast that included veteran thespians like Colm Feore (Chicago), Linus Roache (Beyond Borders), Keith David (Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within), and the imcomprable Judi Dench (Die Another Day), as well as up-and-comers Alexa Davalos, Thandie Newton (Mission: Impossible II), and Karl Urban (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King), it looked as if this may be a franchise on the rise.

Unfortunately, the final result is a philosophically-muddled, action overload with a lackluster anti-hero as the protagonist. Oh, sure, some of the set pieces were entertaining for a while, but it just becomes a bore after a while.

It abandoned what was good about 'Pitch Black' - the horror, the uncertainty, the less-is-more approach - and injected what seemed to be every action stereotype in the book. It's certainly not the worst action movie out there (see also, 'Battlefield Earth'), but it was certainly a few steps down from its predecessor.