That's the kind of experience you're going to face when you watch this third installment of the "Riddick" franchise. Coming off the moderate second film, "Riddick" goes back to its roots and presents itself as basically a replica of the first film, a tale of survival.
There is practically no story here. The only scene that had more of a story lies in the first ten minutes. And it's not part of the main storyline, it came as a flashback describing how Riddick ended up in the desolate planet that will become the setting of this film. It is revealed that after Riddick became the Lord Marshall of the Necromongers, he wished to go back to his home planet of Furya. He made a deal with Vaako that he will be brought to Furya in exchange of him relinquishing the crown to Vaako. After Riddick lands on a desolate planet which he believes to be Furya, it is revealed that it is not Furya and he has been betrayed by the Necromongers. The Necromongers leave him and Riddick is stranded here. From then on, there is no single mention of the Necromongers anymore and it's basically a revamped "Pitch Black" all over again. (At one point, Riddick even said that it was the beginning all over again).
The first part of the movie was delivered in a very slow pace. We got to see Riddick beat up the deadly animals alone. There isn't a variety of creatures here; I only found three (striped feline creature, giant scorpions, and pterodactyls). However, there was one bright spot of the film that offered humor for the film and was a bit unexpected. Riddick takes care of one of the striped feline creature and soon it becomes Riddick's companion. The creature is actually quite adorable (an unusual word used to associate with the term "Riddick"). That was the only character that was actually quite interesting.
The other characters (the mercenaries) were dull and boring except the incredibly annoying Santana. I'll admit, at some points, he was actually pretty funny and provided the movie a comedic tone. However, sometimes, he just came across as being annoying and presenting the characters with additional problems. The side characters were basically unknown. You only know their names, but you don't know who they actually are. We don't know anything about them, because they're all so busy shooting the monsters.
This is what goes on for the rest of the movie. The mercenaries hid the battery as they intend to use the function-less ship as bait. Riddick stole it and put it somewhere far away. They don't make an agreement until a storm comes where large hordes of giant scorpions come lurking out. The two alliances comply to each other's terms and attempt to pass through the large flocks of scorpions and retrieve the battery. That's basically the whole movie aka "Pitch Black" all again.
The action sequences were quite thrilling, but nothing to brag about. It was quite standard with all the slashing and blood. The film is actually quite bloody and extreme. There are many decapitations and lots of blood. The creatures are too quite disgusting with all the organs lying around in some cases. But the action scenes were one of the positives of the movie. Another positive is the comedic theme incorporated here. It actually worked and was quite well done.
"Riddick" is certainly an improvement over "The Chronicles of Riddick" but is definitely steps below the original "Pitch Black". It is basically a revamped version of "Pitch Black". Newcomers won't find this that great but fans should find themselves quite satisfied with this installment (although I was a bit let down by the alarmingly close similarity to the first film).
Rating: 6/10
Final Verdict: "Riddick" is a near-exact replica of the original "Pitch Black" that should offer enough to satisfy fans, but not newcomers.
There is practically no story here. The only scene that had more of a story lies in the first ten minutes. And it's not part of the main storyline, it came as a flashback describing how Riddick ended up in the desolate planet that will become the setting of this film. It is revealed that after Riddick became the Lord Marshall of the Necromongers, he wished to go back to his home planet of Furya. He made a deal with Vaako that he will be brought to Furya in exchange of him relinquishing the crown to Vaako. After Riddick lands on a desolate planet which he believes to be Furya, it is revealed that it is not Furya and he has been betrayed by the Necromongers. The Necromongers leave him and Riddick is stranded here. From then on, there is no single mention of the Necromongers anymore and it's basically a revamped "Pitch Black" all over again. (At one point, Riddick even said that it was the beginning all over again).
The first part of the movie was delivered in a very slow pace. We got to see Riddick beat up the deadly animals alone. There isn't a variety of creatures here; I only found three (striped feline creature, giant scorpions, and pterodactyls). However, there was one bright spot of the film that offered humor for the film and was a bit unexpected. Riddick takes care of one of the striped feline creature and soon it becomes Riddick's companion. The creature is actually quite adorable (an unusual word used to associate with the term "Riddick"). That was the only character that was actually quite interesting.
The other characters (the mercenaries) were dull and boring except the incredibly annoying Santana. I'll admit, at some points, he was actually pretty funny and provided the movie a comedic tone. However, sometimes, he just came across as being annoying and presenting the characters with additional problems. The side characters were basically unknown. You only know their names, but you don't know who they actually are. We don't know anything about them, because they're all so busy shooting the monsters.
This is what goes on for the rest of the movie. The mercenaries hid the battery as they intend to use the function-less ship as bait. Riddick stole it and put it somewhere far away. They don't make an agreement until a storm comes where large hordes of giant scorpions come lurking out. The two alliances comply to each other's terms and attempt to pass through the large flocks of scorpions and retrieve the battery. That's basically the whole movie aka "Pitch Black" all again.
The action sequences were quite thrilling, but nothing to brag about. It was quite standard with all the slashing and blood. The film is actually quite bloody and extreme. There are many decapitations and lots of blood. The creatures are too quite disgusting with all the organs lying around in some cases. But the action scenes were one of the positives of the movie. Another positive is the comedic theme incorporated here. It actually worked and was quite well done.
"Riddick" is certainly an improvement over "The Chronicles of Riddick" but is definitely steps below the original "Pitch Black". It is basically a revamped version of "Pitch Black". Newcomers won't find this that great but fans should find themselves quite satisfied with this installment (although I was a bit let down by the alarmingly close similarity to the first film).
Rating: 6/10
Final Verdict: "Riddick" is a near-exact replica of the original "Pitch Black" that should offer enough to satisfy fans, but not newcomers.