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[StoOgE]

Just got back from the midnight show of Riddick..

I really enjoyed it. Its not great cinema but for a summer movie its very good, certainly better than the other Vin Diesel summer flicks...

first, I am going to get two things out of the way which are not directly spoilers, but more a refutation of a few bits of leaked info that are false.. I am going to spoiler tag them anyway for those that really dont want to know anything about the story..

Spoiler

1) Riddick does not have any superpowers, or really any sort of physical abilities beyond what he had in Pitch Black. 2) His eye shine is not some sort of special power... it is left up in the air whether or not he lied about how he got it, but it seems to imply that it isnt natural

In any case, the story is very straitforward.. not to the point that there isnt a plot, but more or less what you see in the ads is what you get... much like Pitch black most of the time spent in the film is either done developing charachters or action sequences. There is alot more charachter development in this movie than I ever expected, they keep Riddick true to himself.. he doesnt show up to save the universe, he is drawn into the fight..

The special effects are very good for the most part... there is one scene involving some sort of CG dogs that I could have done without.. the dogs looked pretty bad and it was the only scene in the movie that had a very unnecessary feel to it.. it was just sort of thrown in there.. beyond that the effects and sets looked very good.

My main gripe with the movie is this: In pitch black the story unfolded, and all lead to one thing.. it had a very connected feeling like every event in the movie had some significance to the buildup for the final run down the canyon... Riddick is all over the map.. there are several side stories all going on.. they all eventually lead to the same end, but its more like watching a series of disconnected events..

overall though, for what it is, Riddick is good, and I would say its one of the better action movies to come out in recent years... but Pitch Black is significantly better.

 

[Odoul]

Good to hear. Loved Pitch Black and was definetively gonna see it. Then again I liked Van Helsing which everyone and their mother shit on so maybe I have no taste.

Does it take itself seriously? Does it treat the audience like idiots? Also PB and the game had a gritty look and feel to them, is Chronicles the same?

 

[StoOgE]

Chronicles is pretty gritty...

the movie takes itself pretty seriously.. there are a handfull of lines and scenes that are a little tounge in cheek, but nothing cringe worthy. Most of it is done to sell Riddick as a bad ass. Similar to what he had in Pitch Black where he is cocky and overconfident about situations because he knows he can kill whatever he wants. Its played up bigger in this movie that PB, but compared to the stupidity of XXX, its absolutely nothing at all.

One more thing, alot of the one liners in the trailers are not in the movie. Several of them are chopped out of longer bits of dialouge and made into one liners for the ads. Also, one of the lines "I am the monster" from the trailer is completely abscent from the movie.

I guess while I am at this I should say I hated Van Helsing, day after tommorow, Hulk, and in general find most summer blockbusters woefully inadequete. Recent action movies I have liked include Spiderman, Troy, and the LOTR movies. I generally fall for hype big for films and then walk away feeling like I got taken for 8 bucks. Didnt feel that way at all about Riddick.. except for the aforementioned CG dog scene which I could have cared less about.