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THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK
by Peter Sobczynski

June 11, 2004

(out of 4 stars)

FILM CREDITS: Written and directed by David Twohy. Starring Vin Diesel, Thandie Newton, Karl Urban, Colm Feore, Alexa Davalos and Judi Dench.

Before the screening of "The Chronicles of Riddick", the latest attempt by Hollywood to pitch Vin Diesel as the new megastar for the age-a process that began with the fluke success of "The Fast and the Furious", faltered when he tried to pull off the ultra-macho bit while gadding about in a man-fur in "XXX" and completely derailed when "Knockaround Guys" and "A Man Apart" quickly disappeared from screens while the Diesel-free "2 Fast 2 Furious" made a ton of money-a deejay from the station promoting the event got up and gave a brief speech before hurling gimme T-shirts into the crowd at hurricane speeds. She mentioned that the film was a sequel to the 2000 sci-fi thriller "Pitch Black" and then proclaimed while the original only cost about $18 million to produce, the sequel cost about $120 million-the clear implication being that since more money was spent on it (including a reported $20 million payday for Diesel himself), it would, by definition, be a better film. The problem with that logic-and with "The Chronicles of Riddick" (besides its ability to inspire over-punctuated lead sentences in reviews from critics desperate to find something to say about it)-is that there is one element that usually separates the good movies from the bad-inspiration-and it doesn't cost a dime. "Pitch Black" had it in spades and that is why that film worked. "The Chronicles of Riddick", for all of the elaborate visual effects on display, has precious little of it and as a result, it evaporates from the mind so quickly that I was hard-pressed to remember anything about it less than an hour after watching it.

The original "Pitch Black", you will recall, was about a group of travelers marooned on a planet with three suns (meaning that it was always sunny) after their ship crashes. They soon discovered that the only other inhabitants were thousands of loathsome bat-like creatures who could survive and feed only in the dark-sadly for our heroes, they landed just prior to a rare triple-eclipse. Their only hope for survival was Riddick (Diesel), a violent and nihilistic prisoner who didn't care if he, or anyone else, lived or died, but whose eyes had been treated in such a way in prison that he was able to see perfectly in the dark. As premises for sci-fi malarkey go, this was a pretty good one and co-writer/director David Twohy kept things moving along with enough ingenuity so that viewers would be caught up in the action without asking any of those troubling logical questions that could torpedo such a film-such as "If the planet is almost always covered with blinding sunlight, what are those light-allergic creatures doing there in the first place?"

Although it didn't do very well when it was first released (mostly thanks to an ad campaign that made it look like just another dopey action film), "Pitch Black" soon became a cult film because viewers sparked to the premise and the way that it was told. It was not simply because of the Riddick character-although he became the focus towards the end, the film essentially an ensemble effort. In coming up with the idea for a sequel, though, Twohy, no doubt influenced by the new stardom of Diesel (who gets a producing credit here) decided to put all of the focus of the film on Riddick, who just isn't that interesting on his own. In "Pitch Black", he was intriguing because he was one element of an intriguing story. Here, without an equally compelling tale, he comes off as just another action-hero lunkhead who saves the day simply by punching people really hard.

Instead, the plot of "The Chronicles of Riddick" is another one of those sci-fi stews that tries to disguise its utter predictability with tons of impenetrable jargon-heavy dialogue. As near as I can figure, the film starts with the universe under threat from the Necromongers, a race of warriors that travels from planet to planet and offering the inhabitants to convert to their way-which involves no pain, no emotions, mild lobotomies and incredibly goofy metallic toupees; if they refuse, the Necromongers simple blow them up real good. However, the evil Lord Marshall (Colm Feore) has been foretold that he would die at the hands of a member of the Furyian race-an even more savage group of warriors. Although he immediately destroyed their world, it seems as if one escaped and a ghostly emissary of something or other (played, inexplicably, by Judi Dench) has determined that that particular refugee grew up to become Riddick.

Of course, because Riddick is such a tough badass (we know this because the screenplay keeps reminding us), he has no particular urge to help out-just like in "Pitch Black". And also just like in "Pitch Black", Riddick once again breaks down his resolve when the chips are down and decides to save the day. To do so, he must first journey to a volcanic prison planet, where he is reunited with Jack, the young boy (who turned out to be a girl) that he helped save in the first film; "Jack" is now a tough-as-nails babe named Kyra (Alexa Davalos) and it is never certain whether she wants to kill Riddick, kiss him or send him a Father's Day card.

This may sound like an enormous amount of plot (and I haven't even mentioned Thandie Newton and her Lady Macbeth-like machinations to get her boyfriend named leader of the Necromongers) and the usually nimble Twohy (who also directed the effective B movies "The Arrival" and "Below") quickly gets bogged down with all the different characters and worlds that introduces; none of them really stand out and it is almost impossible to tell who are the really bad guys and who are the sorta-bad-but-not that-bad guys. Before long, it just turns into another perplexing mess where stuff blows up, the subwoofers on the multiplex speakers rumble violently and we learn that now matter how far into deep space people go, two things will always remain constant; bad guys will always have British accents and, despite whatever technological wonders the worlds may have, the fate of the universe will rest on who beats who in a fistfight.

"The Chronicles of Riddick" is hardly the worst film of the summer-it is almost a masterpiece when compared to stuff like "Garfield" or "The Day After Tomorrow"-but as a follow-up to a genuinely entertaining movie like "Pitch Black", it is a very disappointing one. Twohy has a lot of talent (although it appears that he is one of those filmmakers who works better on a lower budget) and even Vin Diesel has a certain presence in the right role but both are just going through the motions here. The first "Pitch Black" came out more than four years ago and people still talk about it and I predict that in another four years, they will still be talking about it. "The Chronicles of Riddick", though, will be seen by a lot of people in the first weekend and then, like most other unnecessary sequels, it will be quickly and deservedly forgotten.

-- PETER SOBCZYNSKI

Copyright © 2004 Peter Sobczynski
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While the views expressed by Peter Sobczynski do not necessarily reflect the views of Criticdoctor.com, the Critic Doctor will occasionally examine Mr. Sobczynski's film reviews to bring forth an honest examination of those views expressed.