The Chronicles of Riddick

Year: 2004 Rating: NR Overall Evaluation: 5.0 Significance Suppositions Story Style 6.0 / 10 5.0 / 10 3.0 / 10 7.0 / 10 Click HERE for evaluation criteria.

Style

Originally rated rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action and some language (a few unnecessary F**ks). Even the unrated director's cut was pretty light on gore, with no nudity or sexual situations.

Story

This is the sequel story to another movie, Pitch Black, that was fairly good. The backstory is not really necessary for understanding this one however. The hero (anti-hero actually), Riddick, is a wanted man hunted by mercenaries for the price on his head. He ends up fighting off a legion of evil, planet wasting religious fanatics called Necromongers (please . . . ) in order to rescue the heroine from the first movie for reasons that are never made very clear.

[SPOILER WARNING!]

In the end everyone dies except Riddick who accidentally becomes the new leader of the Necromongers. Nothing more is said about this as the camera pulls back and the credits start. Whoopdie-do.

The story here was very disappointing. It was rather confusing with useless extra plots that did not help at all. Add to this unlikeable characters (even characters we are supposed to like), uninteresting villains, and an uninteresting heroine and you have a recipe for disaster. The cheese level is extraordinarily high, especially considering its predecessor. Worlds with names like "Furion" (get it? - because Riddick is furious all the time???) and the super-hot planet of "Crematoria" did not help either. There were plenty of lost opportunities - several ideas could have really been developed into something great, but the writers completely dropped the ball. Every time we glimpse some potential depth to the story it ends up just being a vehicle for moving Riddick into another unbelievable fight scene.

Suppositions

Even within sci-fi there are some rules and this film feels free to ignore them somewhat. The fight scenes are often ridiculous. At one point Riddick kills 25+ fully armored and armed Necromongers with a couple knives (and this after running 30 miles through lava fields and scaling a 1,000 foot cliff barehanded). He never even begins to tire until the final battle and even then he does pretty well despite the fact that he is fighting a man who can move faster than the eye can see. It's the worst of sci-fi and B-rated martial arts films all in one!

Significance

The anti-hero aspect of many films today makes the message blurred. Riddick is portrayed here pretty much a selfish, violent man who just wants to be left alone - yet for some reason can't help but fight for the underdog (well, any underdog that he desires to fight for). He eventually, when it suits him, fights for his "friend" - although it is not made clear why. He apparently feels somewhat responsible although he does not say so. The tragic ending does not clarify things much either. I think this movie tends toward the idea that no matter how bad a person is they can still be considered "good" so long as they bend with any degree toward virtue. The basic idea of fighting for your loved ones is very good, but it is difficult to reconcile with this dark character.

One scene I found interesting was the "altar call" of the Necromongers to convert to their religion of death. The pluralistic populace immediately rejected it, but the second that someone died for this rejection the lot of them kneeled in supplication. Of course, who would die for a religion they made up themselves! How different the martyrs of Christianity who could not bend the knee in denial of what they knew to be true.