Review: Riddick

It has been 13 years since Pitch Black was released. In that time, Vin Diesel has careened from action star to, well, The Pacifier, and back again. After the miscalculation that was The Chronicles of Riddick, you would be forgiven for thinking that Diesel would have better things to do than return to this franchise. However this is a role tailor-made for the man and he seems to invest quite a bit into it. Therefore, after a rather long hiatus, Riddick is back on the big screen for what must be the last chance saloon for the series.

When we first meet Riddick, he has been marooned on an unnamed planet. Rather unsurprisingly (to everyone but him) he has been betrayed by his followers, the Necromongers – the previous film made it quite clear that treachery was a cultural thing for them. After an acclimatisation period that would have killed lesser mortals, Riddick realises he needs to get off the planet before an encroaching storm hits. He isn’t aquaphobic or anything – he just doesn’t like what comes with the storm. When two groups of mercenaries land on the planet to collect the bounty on Riddick’s head, he sees his opportunity for escape.

The original movie was a low-budget charmer – a well-made sci-fi horror which proved that Diesel was leading man material. Thankfully, Riddick has more in common with Pitch Black than Chronicles. The biggest departure this time is the addition of far more humour – Jordi Molla’s mercenary leader Santana providing most of the laughs. Twohy never allows the quips and back-chat to impact the tension – instead the jokes allow us to get to know what would inevitably be cannon fodder characters in other movies. What you end up with then is likeable characters whose fates matter to you, so when the faeces hits the rotating air displacer, you are hooked.

Again, the star of the show is Diesel. His Riddick is as cold as ever, with his gravel-chewing voice perfect for the character. The opening third of the movie focuses almost solely on Riddick, allowing the audience to become re-acquainted with him. During this time, we see his survival instinct come to the fore, which not only makes for some exciting scenes when he is in the wild but also informs his choices later. Once the other characters show up, his interactions with them are brief, but good. The dialogue can be a little cheesy but not offensively so.

Other than a dog-like companion for Riddick, the rest of the non-human creatures in the film do everything they can to kill him. Like Pitch Black, there is a foe that only comes out at a specific time – downpours of rain replace darkness in this regard. However, the scorpion-like CGI monstrosities are introduced far too early and therefore, do not have the same sense of threat their predecessors had.

As a good portion of the movie is spent with an isolated Riddick, the mercenaries have to fight for your time and attention. While each of them is given a trait or moment that the audience can appreciate, I was disappointed that more was not done with Katie Sackhoff and Karl Urban. Being a fan of both, I know they can deliver if given the opportunity.

Riddick may not live up to the original but it certainly makes up for Chronicles. Diesel apparently risked financial ruin to bring this movie to the screen. I hope it pays off for him and they end up making more… if only to ensure he never has to make another Pacifier movie.

Tags: David Twohy, Karl Urban, Katie Sackhoff, Pitch Black, Riddick, Universal Studios, Vin Diesel