Chronicles of Riddick Review

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The movie takes place 5 years after the film PitchBlack and Vin Diesel is back as the ass kicking Riddick. The Necromongers a breed of people that are genetically created and are religious fantatics in search of the "underverse" have come to destroy the galaxy and an unlikely hero is going to put an end to it, Riddick. To fight one evil you need an even greater evil, and what is eviler then Riddick? To know who Riddick is, is very important to understanding his character in this film. Riddick is a psychopath. He killed his uncle for murdering his family, and was sent to a penal planet with no sunlight. You learn this in Pitch Black, but in Chronicles of Riddick you discover they were actually killed for money to build the higher order of Necromonger society.With that all said and done this new film Chronicles of riddick has many points that contradict the explanation of who Riddick is from the first film. It is good to learn about the race that is Riddicks, but not enough was revealed yet to know much about his character.

Vin Diesel is by no means a shakespeare actor but in his defense he also seems to know this limitation and keeps his speaking brief and to the point. It is also what makes the character Riddick what he is. He only speaks when need be and the rest of the time he speaks with his fists, and his knives. For those who have seen Pitch Black which this movie is the sequel to, you will enjoy seeing some of the old characters brought back. The Muslim Holy Man, and Jack the girl disguised as a boy who is one heck of a hottie in this film have returned for medium size but important roles. I think the inclusion of characters from Pitch Black gave the film a true feeling of continuity and most imporantly an emotional attachment.

The basic premise of the film is the Necromongers are a group of religious fanatics that are genetically created from fallen races that they destroy. Riddick gets involved when the Muslim Holyman sends out a bounty to bring him back to his home world so that he can help save the world from these Necromongers. Riddick of course gets entangled in a big mess of events he could care little for. He ends up hooking up with 'Jack' from Pitch Black again and the film begsin to unfold in action packed ass kicking adventures.

The dialogue and acting in this film is quite limited, but in this case that is probably a good thing. Nobody is doing any super fantastic jobs in the acting department. With that also said Vin Diesel's best roles are where he says little. The CGI effects in this film are outstanding. The best part about them is they are used well. You dont have a bunch of CGI effects thrown in for little reason then to make you go "oooohhhh". The effects are used to drive the story, not to create story, which is what makes the movie really great in the effects department. You wont see anything really unique and new in the effects department accept for maybe the "soul stealing" but I think it was used effectively and the film is well worth watching.

The film fell short in a few departments with situations occuring that were either to brief, or simply un-explained which made me stop and wonder what was actually happening. An example being on the Penal planet where riddick goes to get Jack they never explain the "critters" that Riddick encounters and the relationship to him. Perhaps the next one will explain more, but it was one point that bothered me in the film. The same can be said for his race of people and his eyes, which still stand un-answered. The original answer for why Riddick is the way he is which was explained in Pitch Black is put aside in this film as Jack(now going by Kyra, played by Alexa Davalos) clears up that their is no such doctor, etc. their are quite a few un-answered questions that really need answering, and perhaps it is the intent to make us wait for the next film in the series.
Overall I think Chronicles of Riddick is a fantastic film. The action in the film flowed, and the fight scenes were not overdone, but really brought through the "Bad Ass of the Universe" presence of Riddick. I give this film a 8 out of 10 and I look forward to the next one.