Year of Release: 2013
Director: David Twohy
Starring: Vin Diesel, Jordi Molla, Matt Nable, Katee Sackhoff, Dave Bautista, Bokeem Woodbine, Raoul Trujillo, Conrad Pia, Noah Danby, Neil Napier, Karl Urban, Andreas Apergis
Genre: Sci-Fi, Adventure
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
Watch it on Amazon
Synopsis and Review:
The third chapter in the Riddick series arrived in 2013, following the somewhat disappointing results of the big budget "Chronicles of Riddick" from 2004. Since the release of "Chronicles", Vin Diesel managed to be part of the very successful "Fast and the Furious" series (still going strong), while also joining the Marvel franchise with "Guardians of the Galaxy" (equally tremendously successful), without forgetting his attempt at another franchise with the "XXX" series (the Xander Cage series). The third film in the series, harks back to the humble beginnings of the first film, with a scope that is definitely less ambitious. Looking to move past the Necromongers, and discover Furya, his homeland, Riddick strikes a deal with the power lustful Lord Vaako. Vaako's team take him to a desolate planet, and while there try to kill him. Riddick manages to escape, but finds himself in a very inhospitable planet, filled with lethal predators. While recovering, he adopts a pet hyena, and soon realizes he has to abandon the planet, since a series of catastrophic storms are about to descend on the planet. Upon finding a dormant mercenary station, he activates the beacon, with two different teams responding to it, in order to come and claim the bounty on his head. It will be on Riddick to navigate the agendas and strategies of these two teams, who are intent on capturing him, dead or alive.
Following the lackluster reviews and commercial performance of "The Chronicles of Riddick", writer/director David Twohy went back to smaller scale thrillers with the well received "A Perfect Getaway", while Vin Diesel went back to the "Fast and Furious" series, which made him even more popular and well paid in the process. "Riddick" is a far more modest endeavor than the second film in the series, trying to capture the grittiness of the first film, while also building some further backdrop to the Riddick character. Working with a decidedly smaller budget, the film once again has a B-movie aspect to it, which means, most of the characters are rapidly defined and characterized, and the essential point of the film is Riddick's quest to escape the planet (and eventually uncover his birth planet). This film attempts to introduce some humor with the supporting characters, without much success, but once again, there is something to be said for David Twohy's attempts at capturing influences from other films, even if they are as remote as L.Q. Jones's "A Boy and his Dog" or some of the more classic westerns, of the Sergio Leone family, specifically his Man with no Name series (the Clint Eastwood series). It's a film that once again is unbalanced, in tone and even across the cast assembled, but there's something to be said for the creative team behind this series, who continues to see a narrative worth telling, even if this film doesn't necessarily add much to the cannon.
Following the lackluster reviews and commercial performance of "The Chronicles of Riddick", writer/director David Twohy went back to smaller scale thrillers with the well received "A Perfect Getaway", while Vin Diesel went back to the "Fast and Furious" series, which made him even more popular and well paid in the process. "Riddick" is a far more modest endeavor than the second film in the series, trying to capture the grittiness of the first film, while also building some further backdrop to the Riddick character. Working with a decidedly smaller budget, the film once again has a B-movie aspect to it, which means, most of the characters are rapidly defined and characterized, and the essential point of the film is Riddick's quest to escape the planet (and eventually uncover his birth planet). This film attempts to introduce some humor with the supporting characters, without much success, but once again, there is something to be said for David Twohy's attempts at capturing influences from other films, even if they are as remote as L.Q. Jones's "A Boy and his Dog" or some of the more classic westerns, of the Sergio Leone family, specifically his Man with no Name series (the Clint Eastwood series). It's a film that once again is unbalanced, in tone and even across the cast assembled, but there's something to be said for the creative team behind this series, who continues to see a narrative worth telling, even if this film doesn't necessarily add much to the cannon.
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