Riddick Riddled With Silliness

[Akasha]

Pitch Black would have to be number 1 favourite movie and only because of the oh so handsome, dump my boyfriend in a second if he landed on my door, nights of wild fantasy inducing Vin Diesel as Riddick....

*Silence for 5 minutes*

Oops sorry... drifted off there... =P~

Was sad to see the sequel to Pitch Black get an average write up...

It would take a huge map to chart the world created in The Chronicles of Riddick, a new sci-fi film that visits three planets and spends plenty of time zipping through space. Its conflict is super-sized, too -- the future of humankind is at stake.

Despite its impressive specs, The Chronicles of Riddick manages to feel insignificant. This film is galaxy-wide and an inch deep, with its silliness and self-importance outweighing its ambition and eye-bending effects.

The Chronicles of Riddick, directed by David Twohy, stars Vin Diesel as Riddick, an outlaw on the run from a series of bounty hunters. He arrives at a new planet, Helion, just in time to witness its destruction at the hands of the Necromongers, a new breed of fanatic, undead warriors. The Necromongers, traveling on a giant ship, are well-equipped to wipe out any other civilization and forcibly convert survivors to their religion.

One not-so-small hurdle is Riddick, a descendant of a lost race of rivals known as Furions. The Necromongers consider him a threat, and soon both they and the bounty hunters are on Riddick's trail.

The Chronicles of Riddick is a sequel to the taut, smart sci-fi thriller Pitch Black, which introduced Diesel's Riddick character. In Pitch Black the survivors of a starship crash endure attacks from swarms of flesh-eating raptors.

Pitch Black is a lean, mean film that made efficient use of special effects. Working with a tight budget, the filmmakers, including director David Twohy, built terrifying monsters and created a brutal starship crash, along with some memorable landscapes. All of these visual effects were driven by the needs of the story -- whenever Twohy could jack up the tension without using any tricks, he did.

The Chronicles of Riddick plays more like a video game, motivated more by cool graphics and the chance to engage in some hand-to-hand than by plot or real human concerns. The bits of plot feel pasted in, and though the film doesn't lack for never-seen-it-before imagery -- including metallic spaceships, some wicked carnage and a shimmery, ghostly being known as an Elemental -- there's not nearly enough to sustain it through its two hours.

Twohy certainly deserves credit as a stylist. Pitch Black is a sharp-looking movie -- its barren landscapes seem truly otherworldly, and some of its interior spaces could re-trigger your fear of the dark.

The Chronicles of Riddick had considerably more extensive resources -- the production notes brag about the film's materials list: 1.5 million board feet of lumber, 4,000 gallons of paint, 40 miles of electrical cable. It sounds like enough to start a housing project.

It takes a bit of nerve to invent and render whole new worlds, and Twohy, for the most part, pulls it off. One place he doesn't is his plastic-looking planet Crematoria, home to the universe's most daunting maximum-security prison. On the planet, the sunrise can send temperatures zooming, almost instantly, to 700 degrees Fahrenheit. How do Riddick and friends survive? By hiding behind a rock (and they did not, as far as I could tell, apply any sunscreen). Riddick barely breaks a sweat.

This is a guy who knows how to stay cool, and Riddick is also indestructible -- he's more of a cartoon than the reserved, enigmatic version of himself in Pitch Black. Larger than life, all coiled muscle and catch phrases -- example: "The universe is swirling down the drain? Had to happen sometime" -- Riddick is hard to believe and hard to care about.

He is a good fighter, in part because Twohy is a talented action director. The battle scenes, and there are plenty, are of the strobe-lit, hyperkinetic, give-the-kid-an-epileptic-fit school. But spectacular fights are never enough to power any good movie.

And from a film that yanks you halfway around the universe, you should expect more.

Information Source : Wired News

[Salalorn]

Well, I'm going ot go see it today, and will give you an unbiased (not money driven) account of how I thought the movie was.

Speaking of movies... has anyone else seen the new Harry Potter movie?


stay safe everyone,
-Sala

[R2D2]

Yeaa... i wouldnt say its the best movie i've seen, its probably a low budget film thou...but Vin diesel is good to the movie i think....
cant really remember all the details so good about the movie...but I wont see it again for sure... :? :?

[boscolio]

I loved Pitch Black but i've heard nothing but mediocre things about Chronicles. I guess i'll just play Escape From Butcher Bay (which is awesome) and go watch Pitch Black again. ;)

[Salalorn]

ok guys,

I hate to say it but the crictis this time were almost right. It was not a trriable movie, it had a few things that I really didn't think were right or made sence, but over all it was a good movie. It's one of thoes 'mindless shoot-em-ups' that's good to go and see and let your mind get detached from the real world for a lil while.

stay safe everyone,
-Sala

P.S. If anyone wants to know a bit more about it, ask... I hate it when people on boards give away the whole movie and argo my shortness with this post.

[boscolio]

for me this one is now filed under "rental". it should be fun to watch while drunk with friends. or not...i guess we'll see.

[Akasha]

I might see it when it comes out on rental, but we have knock around guys up at the video store and I still haven't rented that one... ;)

Was vinny baby as hot as the first one?