 "Photo:")
In terms of movies, this summer started slowly. So far, Hollywood has offered a disaster movie loaded with cheesy human drama, a historical epic without enough action and a monster movie with too much of everything. But Vin Diesel is here to remind audiences what really counts: one-liners, strobe lights, big explosions and even bigger biceps.
Sadly, "The Chronicles of Riddick" actually begins with the potential to become a memorable sci-fi epic, and then settles into the summer action movie rut with no apologies.
Before any events actually take place, two different voiceovers explain the film's plot, which, in true sci-fi spirit, is loaded with laughable jargon and silly details. The writer-director David Twohy takes geeky writing to new extremes, naming a single planet "Helion System Planet Helion Prime."
Apparently, there's a half-man, half-something-else race of "Necromongers" plowing through the galaxy and converting planets to their space religion, which seems like a marriage of Scientology, Christianity and Nazism. No prizes to whoever guesses what happens to those who resist conversion.
Meanwhile, escaped convict Riddick keeps to himself in the far corners of the galaxy, probably working out. A bounty brings the recluse back to civilization, where Riddick learns that he is the only surviving member of a race prophesized to stop the spread of the Necromongers.
Diesel reprises the role that jumpstarted his career in the modest thriller "Pitch Black." Twohy has revamped his character here, giving the criminal a huge coat and even more attitude, which essentially creates an intergalactic version of XXX.
The opening sequences of "The Chronicles of Riddick" create all the breathtaking awe and spectacle that a good science fiction film should. Twohy hinted in "Pitch Black" that he had a knack for creating immersive visual worlds, and he confirms it here. During an intense Necromonger takeover, he crafts a terrifying spectacle as the victim planet is ravaged with giant, statuesque spaceships that spell inevitable doom for the hapless inhabitants.
In these early scenes, the film stays so fast-paced and well-directed, with close attention to sound and visual detail, that a sense of fear and excitement punctuates every moment. Even better, the plot bounces quickly to several interesting locations, and "The Chronicles of Riddick" fleetingly achieves what every science fiction film aims for: It immerses the audience in a believable, stirring fantasy world.
After escaping the Necromonger attack, Riddick heads for a space prison to rescue the only person he cares about, Jack (played with little charm by former model Alexa Davalos). And why not? A quick, well-executed prison break seems like a great detour to take before sending the hero all over the galaxy to make allies and fight the Necromongers.
But then the story stalls. Diesel spends the next hour of the film in the sparsely populated prison, where a clichéd female love interest emerges. Riddick's one-liners lose their edge, and the ultimate evil, Lord Marshall of the Necromongers, reveals himself to be a stock villain with no personality. And yes, stuff starts exploding. By the time Riddick kills a sarcastic prison guard with a teacup, it's clear that the film is in no position to pull a Hail Mary.
And so, "The Chronicles of Riddick" disintegrates into another summer action movie. To be fair, Twohy has a few neat visual tricks up his sleeve, and the film never drags, thanks to Diesel's amusing tough guy persona and a pace that never opts for excess. The guns look eerily similar to the "punch guns" in "Minority Report," but at least they ensure that bodies fly all over the place.
The film's only real shortcoming as a mindless action movie is its PG-13 rating, which creates restraint where it clearly was not intended. During one fight scene that is cut too fast to follow and devoid of any sound, it becomes obvious that the film was trimmed heavily to avoid an R rating. Perhaps without studio interference, Twohy could have maintained the dark tone with which his film began and crafted a sci-fi movie as clever and exhilarating as "Pitch Black."
Be the first to comment on this article!