RIDDICK

This closed out my summer theater fare on a high note that I wasn't expecting. The story is kind of shallow (similar scenario as PITCH BLACK), but it was very entertaining. My review from IMDB:

PITCH BLACK was made for a relatively low budget and became a minor hit. Probably being overconfident, the producers made THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK for over 100 million dollars and it only grossed about half of that at the American box-office. The possibility of a 3rd movie looked bleak....

If you've read the reports of on again off again, production shutdowns, securing a new budget, you would be excused for expecting the worst from the new RIDDICK movie. After CHRONICLES, they really had to pare the budget down. But, this is a labor of love for Vin Diesel (also producer) and writer/director, David Twohy. I'm happy to report that this movie is quite good! I just went to opening day, so I have to guess how this movie will fare. I suspect it will do very well, especially now that Riddick has been around on DVD, as a cartoon and as a video game or two. It's time for this series to go mainstream.

The new movie is a true sequel, so it relies on some of the backstory, introduced in the first two live action movies. For the new viewer, you should first see PITCH BLACK. This introduces the "prisoner," Riddick, who has eyes that can see in the dark, and his captor, a bounty hunter named Johns (Cole Houser).

Next up, see THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK. This movie introduces a planet conquering race, the Necromongers (much akin to the Borg). These are the guys in the weird suits, in the new RIDDICK flashbacks. We also learn that Riddick belongs to a race, called Furyans - a bad-ass and defiant people!

Now, that brings us to the third, live action installment, RIDDICK. Riddick is broken and stranded on a desolate planet. We are introduced to some alien species and rocky terrain. This is a "hunter/prey" movie with some pretty cool imagery. I'm not going to give much away - not that there is much to give away, but the pace is good and full of dark fun.

I really have to give props for the production pulling through and giving us a movie that I think is better than CHRONICLES and closer to the flavor of PITCH BLACK, even if it is self-derivative. It's a great piece of adventure/sci-fi to close out the summer with.
 
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I think the new Riddick is pretty sweet, definitely better than Pitch Black, and it doesn't even belong in the same sentence as the steaming pile of Chronicles. I really enjoyed the Castaway-esque first portion of the movie, and I enjoyed when it transitioned to be more like Pitch Black.

I like the way that Diesel and Twohy chose to make a movie that is both a serious sci-fi, and full-blown-cheese-ball-hokey-B-movie. It's kinda the best of both worlds.

Riddick has a pet alien-dog, and it's awesome!
:P

I'm totally gonna see it again. :yes:
 
The thing is I actually really enjoyed Chronicles of Riddick. Okay, the story as a whole was far from great but bits of the story were excellent.

And I loved how it was shot and the sets. The prison planet was pretty damn cool and there was a hyper-cool crane shot that revealed Kyra (Alexa Davalos) lying on some rocks... And I loved the rough-as-nails characters given to some of the women in the movie. As for Thandie Newton's character, damn she played that well. Then we had an Elemental... And some of the lines uttered by Riddick were pretty damn out there.

It's great you enjoyed Riddick. Can't wait to see it.
 
Pitch Black is Aliens with too much testosterone.
Chronicles of Riddick is Star Wars....with too much testosterone.

I love them both. When Chronicles came out, I hated it because I wanted more of the first. After rewatching a few times, I came to enjoy Chronicles more. Even more than the first. Looking forward to the third (and trying to keep preconceived notions out of it, since that's what spoiled the second for me at first) Good to hear that the new one is holding up!

As an aside, I recognize that my opinion is in the minority on Chronicles, and I'm comfortable with that :)
 
I'll third the love for Chronicles - I get that people wanted more of the first (which it sounds like Riddick provides), but that aside I never understood why there was so much hate for it. I feel like it holds up well to repeat viewings, especially the directors cut - although the vision parts of the directors cut feel a little out of place to me and probably could have been left out.

In any case, looking forward to Riddick... have to wait until next week though. My wife is a much bigger fan of it than I am, and she's out of town this weekend; going to see it without her would likely be more dangerous than crossing a Furyan.
 
The thing is I actually really enjoyed Chronicles of Riddick. Okay, the story as a whole was far from great but bits of the story were excellent.

And I loved how it was shot and the sets. The prison planet was pretty damn cool

I loved CHRONICLES, also. The planet, Crematoria, was awesome. I only take points away for the Necromongers plot being so similar to the Borg of STAR TREK.
 
Really good to hear. I love all of the Riddick films, but I was a little worried that this was just going to be a rehash of Pitch Black. Although honestly, that would be fine with me ;) ... because I love the Riddick movies.
 
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