\u201cPitch Black\u201d was the low-budget science fiction action film that made Vin Diesel into a movie star. Four years later, the sequel \u201cThe Chronicles of Riddick\u201d was so bloated and silly that it nearly destroyed his career. With that history, it\u2019s something of a surprise to find Diesel tempting fate yet again with \u201cRiddick,\u201d the third film in the franchise.<\/p>\n
The good news is that \u201cRiddick\u201d is a lean monster flick that features some pretty good action and better-than-expected special effects for such a low-budget film. Most importantly, Diesel gets a chance to remind us all why he\u2019s such a charismatic movie star, even if he\u2019s showing off in what is essentially a glorified B movie.<\/p>\n
The bad news is that this is seldom anything greater than a glorified B movie.<\/p>\n
The action begins with the intergalactic fugitive, Riddick (Diesel), stranded on a desolate planet. Our gravel-voiced antihero is surrounded by hordes of hungry monsters, although they really aren\u2019t ever all that dangerous to someone as lethal as Riddick. Two teams of bounty hunters pose a bigger challenge as they come searching for the reward that goes with Riddick\u2019s head. Once again, the hunters are more of an obstacle, rather than a legitimate threat.<\/p>\n
The plot is pretty much on autopilot, but \u201cRiddick\u201d isn\u2019t a movie that needs an audience to think about a complicated story. This is simply the movie of a cool hero trying to survive the attack of some bounty hunters and a lot of vicious space monsters. Diesel is very appealing in the central role, more than holding the screen for the first quarter of the film where he\u2019s left all alone except for those computer-generated creatures.<\/p>\n
The rest of the human characters don\u2019t fare as well. There\u2019s some bad overacting going on here, although Katee Sackhoff does provide some welcome female fighting spirit as one of the bounty hunters forced to team up with her target in order to survive the film\u2019s finale. Her casting is inspired, as there\u2019s a substantial crossover between the \u201cPitch Black\u201d and the new \u201cBattlestar Galactica\u201d fan bases.<\/p>\n
\u201cRiddick\u201d won\u2019t be regarded as a great science fiction film. I\u2019m not even certain that it will jump-start the \u201cPitch Black\u201d franchise. And the truth is that if \u201cRiddick\u201d was a better film, it would have been released earlier in the summer when it could have made a bigger splash.<\/p>\n
That being said, \u201cRiddick\u201d is still an enjoyable space adventure that captures a lot of what made \u201cPitch Black\u201d into a fan-favorite hit. It\u2019s a lean, mean and unpretentious flick that will remind you why Diesel became a movie star in the first place.