Movie Review: Riddick (2013)
Written by Anthony Sargon
Vin Diesel is back as Riddick after a nine-year absence. The character was last seen on the big-screen in 2004's "The Chronicles of Riddick", which was a huge a mess from start to finish. Thankfully, "Riddick" is a lot more like "Pitch Black" than "Chronicles", and is a welcome return to form for the character.
The film picks up after the events of "The Chronicles of Riddick"; our anti-hero has been betrayed by the Necromongers and now finds himself on a desolate planet, just trying to survive. His only chance to get off the planet is to activate a beacon that’ll attract bounty hunters, and ultimately, a ship that can get him out of there.
"Pitch Black" worked because it was a straightforward sci-fi action movie with a badass anti-hero kicking all sorts of ass. The film knew exactly what it was and had no illusions of grandeur. "Chronicles of Riddick", on the other hand, tried to fill in a lot of the character’s backstory and build out the mythology, but the film ended up being muddled, confused, and just badly thought out.
But like I said, this is very much a return to form for the character, and the movie does away with all the excess that plagued its predecessor. This is a back to basics sci-fi action flick with plenty of great character moments, and if you were a fan of "Pitch Black", then you’re going to be very happy with this.
Vin Diesel is once again awesome as the titular character; he’s a total badass, and it’s great to see him in the role again. Jordi Mollà is hilarious as bounty hunter Santana, and Dave Bautista does a good job too as one of his henchmen, which is encouraging since he'll be playing Drax the Destroyer in 2014's Marvel epic, "Guardians of the Galaxy". Katee Sackhoff also gives a strong turn as Dahl, another merc trying to catch Riddick.
The film looks pretty decent considering that it wasn’t made for that much money. The effects are cool and the creature designs work well enough, and there are some brutal kills and action sequences. You do need to keep in mind that this isn’t the most original sci-fi movie out there; the characters and dialoue are pretty one-dimensional, and like I said, the movie can be very similar to "Pitch Black", which could bother some people. Personally, after the shitstorm that was "The Chronicles of Riddick", I don’t see that being a problem.
Anthony's Verdict:
If you like the character of Riddick and were disappointed by his last cinematic outing, you should definitely give "Riddick" a shot. If you were never a fan of the character to begin with, I'm not certain that this will change your mind.
Numerical Score: 7/10
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