“[Riddick] could have done with being a bit less samey. But at the end of the day, I wanted a Riddick movie and that is exactly what I got.”.
by Nav Qateel
Riddick has been a long time coming with 13 years since the first in the trio, Pitch Black, where we first met Vin Diesel’s strange character, escaped convict Richard B. Riddick, who after spending years as a prisoner, learned to survive in the worst possible conditions. He had his eyes “shined” in prison, in order to see in the dark, and was the only way to stay alive in that hell-hole. He is being transported in the ship ‘Hunter-Gratzner’ along with a mixed group of travelers but they crash-land on a desert planet that is due to go completely dark, bringing out very large predators. The bounty hunter responsible for Riddick’s re-arrest is William J. Johns, a drug addict and generally unpleasant character who eventually comes to a nasty end. Enter Johns’ strangely too young father Boss Johns (Matt Nable), who wants to know what happened to his son (and I’d like to know what age the father was when his son was born).
- Riddick
- Directed by
David Twohy - Cast
Vin Diesel, Jordi Mollà, Katee Sackhoff, Matt Nable - Release Date
6 September 2013 - Nav’s Grade: B-
The second installment was nowhere near as good as Pitch Black and this is usually what happens when too much money gets thrown at a follow-up. The Chronicles of Riddick was certainly a good film but didn’t have the edge of the first, so Diesel and Twohy have addressed that issue here, with a third of the budget the second installment had, and very much back to basics with the story. It could have done with being a bit less samey. But at the end of the day, I wanted a Riddick movie and that is exactly what I got. Vin Diesel kicking ass while speaking in his droll, deep but very cool monotone, where he gets to say cool things like “I made a mistake and got civilized,” and the like. If his dog hadn’t been in this it would have been too much like Pitch Black 2.0, but as it was, I enjoyed it very much.
*****
Apparently, Diesel put his house up as collateral in order that Riddick get completed but it looks like it was always a safe bet as he has a fan-base that has been keenly waiting for this film to be made, and while some may be a bit disappointed at the wheel-spinning by Twohy, it still serves its purpose well enough, and should even introduce the world of Riddick to a new generation of fans. As well as the highly lucrative Fast & Furious franchise, Diesel is set to reboot his Xander character in the next installment of xXx, in the unimaginatively titled xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. These Vin Diesel vehicles are his mainstay and I like practically everything he does, and they’ve served the actor well up to now. They will no doubt keep him flush for the foreseeable future.
