Riddick

Reviews from the Dark Side presents
 Riddick
Released 9/6/13, now in theaters

Vin Diesel returns as everyone's favorite glowing-eyed antihero in this week's release of Riddick.  This is Diesel's third turn as the titular character following 2000's Pitch Black and 2005's The Chronicles of Riddick.  So, this third installment is the rubber match for me in determining if the character truly has any legs going forward as Pitch Black was a surprisingly good sci-fi horror film even if it did borrow (a lot) from Alien.  The franchise completely fell off the beam with COR, a film that couldn't have been more different than Pitch Black (in a bad way) with its story of nigh unstoppable world conquerors marauding through space. 

One thing I have to say about director, David Twohy, is that he has managed to tie the series together with a neat explanation.  It would have been easy to dismiss COR as something that never happened (a la Highlander 2).  But, he does incorporate how Riddick turned from king to space fugitive again.  And, mercifully, one 5-6 minute recounting of events is the only reference to the second installment.  Do you get the sense I really didn't like COR?

The film opens with the king/intergalactic criminal stranded and left for dead on an unknown hostile world.  As events were left in COR, Riddick (Diesel) became the king of a galactic army of religious conquerors called the Necromongers (didn't make that up).  However, his new followers weren't pleased when it became clear their new king was not interested in conquest.  His one burning desire was to find and return to his homeworld of Furya.  Deceiving Riddick by taking him to a planet they claimed was Furya, the Necromongers betray him and leave him on the planet after making an attempt on his life.  Despite being badly injured, Riddick is able to survive several attacks by this world's many indigenous animal species through sheer will. 

Riddick learns to thrive on this new world until a turn of events makes it imperative he gets off planet asap.  His only hope is to activate a homing beacon he finds at an abandoned mercenary outpost.  But the beacon is going to bring bounty hunters; it's not a good situation for someone who is wanted dead or alive (preferably dead) by most of the known universe.

So, I am happy to say that Riddick follows the lead of Pitch Black rather than that of COR.  Riddick returns to the roots of what made the first film an interesting watch.  A world filled with ugly vicious beasties are pitted against the most ruthless killer in the galaxy.  It's a simple premise, but it works thanks to Diesel.  No action star does a slow burn of underlying "badass-ery" quite like him.  And, he looks and sounds cool doing it.  The other great thing about Diesel in these tough guy roles is he seems to have a sense of humor about the absurdity of it all as he usually delivers eye-rolling one liners with a wry grin. 

There is plenty of visceral, bone-crunching action throughout Riddick which I know is what the action junkies are waiting to hear.  Katee Sackhoff is a nice addition to the cast as part of the security team that comes to interrogate Riddick.  She's very good in action roles.  Dave Bautista (for you wrestling fans out there) is a giant hulk of a mercenary.

My general complaint about Riddick isn't really a complaint.  It's merely an observation.  The final act of the film is almost a complete rip-off of Pitch Black.  It's not a bad thing mind you as I previously stated that I thought COR came completely out of left field.  It's just that Twohy, who has directed all three movies in the series, hasn't yet found that happy medium of placing the character of Riddick outside of a one note type of atmosphere.  We already knew that Pitch Black worked.  Did it have to be revisited?  Can we put Riddick in a situation that fits the type of character he is without completely jumping off the ledge by throwing in religious world conquerors?  I hope the balance is found in future installments. 

While you will have the sense that you have seen parts of Riddick before, its undeniably a step back in the right direction for this franchise.  It does what it is meant to do.  It entertains, and that's the important takeaway here.

The Dark Lord of the Sith says:

***1/2 stars

Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.