Review of The Chronicles of Riddick
Year: 2004 Reviewer: Chris Docker
THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK lacks the suspense of its Pitch Black forerunner, but is so beautifully composed that it will satisfy many die-hard sci-fi fantasists. The worldscapes are ingeniously and meticulously devised, the characters and mythologies worthy of an epic, and the battles and monsters are just enough different from those that they are derived from to keep us interested. There is little connection to its forerunner except for the main character, Riddick, a Furian whose will to never submit (and perhaps his criminal-turned-hero background personality) is the major force against the creatures of the Underverse. After avoiding mercenaries intent on capturing him, he finds himself on the planet Helion - which is being invaded by the Necromongers. Necromongers are humans that have been 'subjugated' and no longer feel pain - they are half of this world and half of the 'next world' (some nice Borg analogies here . . .) They have this kinda cool way of moving - a sort of super-fast plus slow-mo trail that's like a darker version of the Matrix's Agent Smith (plus they look kinda nasty). Vin Diesel has plenty of super-energy of his own, an indomitable will, and those special eyes he got from the last movie that let him see in the dark. Judi Dench is neutral as an 'Elemental' that just conveys info and is pretty well immune to getting blown away. Riddick has a lovely side-kick at some points called Kyra (played by French brunette beauty Alexa Davalos) who is also reasonably good at kickin' ass. OK, the fighting gets a bit repetitive after a bit, but it's reasonably quality stuff. Nothing as sophisticated as the Matrix (realms like 'Crematoria' lack a certain subtlety) but as an action flick it's really not bad. But when will we see this dire trend of sci-fi fantasy, where the plot lines are based on various races' (and the audiences) need for superstition, reversed? When will the 'science' come back into science fiction??
Rating: 7/10
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