The Chronicles of Riddick

Dir: David Twohy (Pitch Black, Below, The Arrival)
Cast: Vin Diesel, Alexa Davalos, Thandie Newton, Karl Urban, Judi Dench, Colm Feore
USA, 2004

Seen: October 14, 2006 thanks to Rogers Direct

Reason to see: Loved Pitch Black so much I saw it 3 times in the theatre

It took more than a few attempts to see this film. I am astonished I didn’t get out to it in the theatre, and then my first attempt to get it through Rogers Direct resulted in getting Pitch Black oddly enough.

On the whole, I would say I was disappointed with this film. There are many possibilities of where a sequel could have gone after Pitch Black and I’ll tell you I would not have expected this one. The filmdoesn’t in any way compare with the beautiful simplicity of Pitch Black and it feels dragged down by the huge scale of the highly stylized new world it it set in. It’s as if there is more style over substance. That being said it pulled in some wonderfully talented actors (Judi Dench, Colm Feore and Karl Urban) all of whom added to the film even if they didn’t have tons of screen time. There are some good action sequences and some interesting characters but as a whole there was a bit lacking.

Shannon's Overall View:
It was ok, but not as much as I hoped
I’d watch it again on a Sunday afternoon
I’d recommend is as a fun scifi film but it isn’t really to be compared to the first film if you want to enjoy it

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© Shannon Ridler, 2007