Film Review: Riddick

It's been a long thirteen years since Richard B. Riddick made his debut in Pitch Black as the wicked, hardcore serial murderer who would become a hero to a few desperate survivors. Riddick fought monsters again, in the form of a tyrannical empire, in The Chronicles of Riddick. With a couple of decent video games and a cartoon also in Riddick's name, the man has become one of the most popular antiheroes of modern cinema. It's hard not to love how savage and badass he is.

It's been a long, barren stretch since 2004's TCoR (one's thirst for Riddick being only a little quenched with the 2009 video game, Assualt on Dark Athena). Finally, this third film continues the chronicle, dumping Riddick back into his element and invoking the brutal, primal forces that made the original Pitch Black so appealing. The film immediately tracks him on some barren, unknown planet; he's wounded, vulnerable, and hunted by all manner of wicked creatures. A few flashbacks provide the necessary bridge between this and the last film, before picking up again with the raw struggle for survival. These scenes are pretty cool as they are, but things gets pretty serious when Riddick activates a beacon that summons mercs to his location. Then, he becomes the dead man stalking. Things get a little stupid and ridiculous from this point on, but it's still pretty awesome to watch Riddick mess up some mercs, both physically and psychologically. The fights are cool, the suspense is gripping, the kills are gruesome and awesome, and the overall tone and atmosphere exudes sheer savagery. This film represents the essence of who Riddick is and what he does best.

The story is pretty lightweight and thin, going so far as rehashing the general structure of Pitch Black (they're both films that are split pretty evenly between men fighting men, and then turning around to fight monsters and get the hell off the planet). Most of the characters are pretty flat and borderline unlikable (and mostly pretty stupid), and there are a few parts where they make a sudden change of heart that seems rather unlikely.  As the centerpiece, however, Riddick shines through as the biggest strength to the story. From the start, he is presented as a man who lost his edge, rendered soft and weakened after the events of TCoR. The bulk of the film is about him getting his edge back, and with the later turn of events, maybe even finding a little bit of absolution. While most of the movie will come off as pretty average storytelling, I personally applaud it for digging deeper into Riddick's own savagery and immersing us into his dark, primal nature.

The film uses decent photography and editing. Some of the action is a little shakey, but thankfully, this film is way more steady and pleasant to watch than the predeceasing Riddick films. Acting from most of the cast is nothing to scream about, but Vin Diesel does show surprising maturity as Riddick; he shows far more expression and vulnerability in this role than he did before, and it does effectively add more dimensionality to the title character. Writing is pretty stupid some times, pretty awesome other times, but all-around kinda bad. This production uses cool-looking sets, props, costumes, and special effects. Music is pretty decent.

Riddick echoes a lot of the same things that made Pitch Black so cool, but I think Riddick is a better, funner, more awesome experience. TCoR is still my favorite of the lot, because it was so epic and cool, but Riddick is a welcome return to form, and I'd be interested to see where the man goes next.

4/5 (Entertainment: Very Good | Story: Average | Film: Pretty Good)