Quick review: The Chronicles of Riddick
Remember when you saw “The Fifth Element?” Remember the way every frame was oozing visual style, the way the whole thing was packed full of detailed, inventive imagery and a brand-new mythology? And remember that it made you not mind so much that the story was kind of dumb and there were a few too many contrivances for comfort? Well, that’s exactly how I felt about “Riddick.” This movie has enough pulp sci-fi elements to keep an army of slobbering fanboys muttering “Cool!” to themselves, and it is enormously pleasing to the eye, but probably best not to analyze it too terribly deeply. Let its ambience wash over you while you sit in awe of the artistry.
In some ways this movie reminded me a lot of some of the big historical epics of yesteryear. Yeah, you could tell the big panorama of ancient Rome was just a matte painting, but man, it sure was a pretty matte painting, and anyway it was just an establishing shot for the palace intrigue. Obviously the technical wizardry here is decades more advanced, but I get the sense the filmmakers valued “grand and beautiful” above “realistic,” even if it meant requiring a little more suspension of disbelief. There’s a sense of scope here that most movies, especially most sci-fi movies, avoid because they know they can’t pull it off successfully — much cheaper and safer to stick with confined, claustrophobic settings.
I can easily see why a reviewer wouldn’t like “Riddick.” Some people have more tolerance than others for “Shouldn’t he be dead right now?” moments and grown men marching around in uncomfortable-looking bizarre costumes, and there are plenty of both here. But it puzzles me that several major reviewers (e.g. Richard Roeper) seem to have found the story difficult to follow. I didn’t find that at all. All the major plot points follow logically from what’s come before, though not all the details are completely explained by the end. I assume we’re going to get a sequel to cover some of the stuff that was hinted at.
Seeing the first movie (”Pitch Black”) is helpful but not required. They make an effort to explain the relevant parts of that story to the uninitiated. On the other hand, “Pitch Black” is a fun little movie, so no harm seeing it anyway.
Four out of five stars.