Riddick

Seek and Destroy

Riddick's Dad taught him how to pounce

I know that sometimes I come off as a tad snobbish, when it comes to both films and reality.  Admittedly I have high standards when I want to be entertained and I’m quite comfortable with that. However, I’m more than aware that sometimes a person will need to unwind, switch off their brain and just watch some things explode. It’s relaxing and easy-watching.  Some of my personal favourites are films that don’t require a twist ending or an intricate storyline and I am an advocate of finding classic motion pictures in your local ‘lacklustre’ rental store just as well as your nearby multiplex.

Not naming any names...

Of all the mindless and enjoyable sci-fi films of the past few years, one personal favourite of mine is Pitch Black, the relatively low-key blockbuster that helped propel Vin Diesel to become a household name after starring in films such as The Fast And The Furious and Saving Private Ryan (that’s correct; Vin Diesel starred in Spielberg’s heart-wrenching war epic).  Pitch Black didn’t hold any high aspirations or delusions of grandeur, but delivered an entertaining and watch-able sci-fi thriller, and the same can be said about Diesel’s latest film, Riddick.

She didn't fancy the lead in Fast and Furious 7

Riddick picks up after Pitch Black’s sequel, The Chronicles of Riddick, which admittedly I haven’t seen. However, I was more than able to keep up with the premise.  The lowlife space-criminal with night-vision eyes, Richard B. Riddick (or Riddick to his friends), has become ruler of an entire planet’s civilisation but is betrayed by his subjects and left to die on a desolate planet.  In an attempt to leave the planet, he attracts the attention of two rival bounty hunter gangs and aims to leave on one of their ships once they arrive.  This starts a game of cat and mouse between Riddick and the bounty hunters that is made much more dangerous when the planet’s native beasties begin to emerge during a thunderstorm.

Now it sounds like a potentially thin set-up and storyline but once the bounty hunters are introduced and Diesel starts muttering his signature growl, the rest flows off the screen and washes over you in a comfortable sea of familiarity.  One section in particular caught my attention and made me ashamed of my preconception.  Despite most of the film adhering to the staples of the action franchise, the opening act of Riddick features just the titular hero as he deals with the recent treachery, marooning and isolation.  With a broken leg, no water and virtually zero knowledge of the planet he is on, we are shown a survivalist Riddick similar to Tom Hanks in Cast Away . It’s a welcome change to see the bone-breaking mercenary as vulnerable and in preservation mode, as it adds depth to a character that would otherwise appear as two-dimensional and sociopathic as he did in Pitch Black.  Don’t get me wrong, I found it enjoyable to see that side of Riddick in Pitch Black as it was part of the film’s charm.   However in his third outing, the audience demands to see something fresh and this threatened and softer side of Riddick is a refreshing change of pace.

Don't play Hide and Seek with these guys...

The rival bounty hunters are quite opposite in their approach to capturing Riddick. The first group are a bunch of hot-headed scoundrel scavengers, simply focussed on collecting Riddick’s bounty through any means necessary.  Whereas the second group appear like your typical ‘sci-fi meat-headed Army marines’ but are a much more precise and experienced group of professional mercenaries, who would rather get personal revenge on Riddick than collect the bounty on his head.  The games of one-upmanship between the bounty hunters are quite entertaining as they both plot to capture the escaped convict, providing much-needed comic relief to the film that doesn’t necessarily come from the gruff-voiced protagonist.

My problems with the film would be found when the film slips into the typical clichéd action-film stereotypes; the cheesy dialogue, the dark, confusing fight scenes and the fact that Riddick gets the girl, even though it’s stated about fifty times that that girl is a lesbian. Yes, Richard B Riddick can turn gay women straight.

Bitches love the Riddick...

I also would have preferred some consistency when it came to the alien beasties. As they awake from their slumber for the final climatic battle scene, they are portrayed as Man’s Worst Nightmare; capable of crushing a steel caravan with their powerful claws and jaws. But when they are fought by Riddick and the surviving mercenaries, they are able to despatch the winged monsters without much effort and I thought there was an immediate diffusion of tension once I realised that our heroes would be able to escape without too much fuss.

I might give
Battlestar Galatica a go...

But those are minor quibbles that you’d find in any recent sci-fi blockbuster; at least Riddick doesn’t try to be anything else.  It knows it is sci-fi buffoonery and enjoys itself whilst doing it.  I’m glad it gave the audience a clearer insight into the character of Riddick before making him disappear and bide his time, but just wish it could have continued impressing me from the beginning through to the end, instead of losing it’s way in the final third. Hopefully it will lead to an even better fourth Riddick film, before Diesel gets too old to capitalise on his ridiculous name.

Overall, a fantastic popcorn movie.  Plus, I finally can see why The Big Bang Theory obsesses over Katee Sackhoff.

Rating - 8/10