Chronicles of Riddick (2004)

"Twohy knows how to shoot tense, bare-knuckle action, and his towering, gunmetal gray world is a fun sandbox to play in for two hours.  Devin Gordon, NewsWeek
"...a roller coaster ride that leaves you kicking and screaming for more!  Hollywood Hotwire
"...spectacular costumes (by Ellen Mirojnick and Michael Dennison) and production design (by Holger Gross).  Chicago Reader
"...fascinating and outlandishly detailed production design, which sprawls across the screen in nearly every shot...  Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle
"A fantastic mix of visual effects and live action shots.  Widescreen Review

Editor's Note The sequel to cult sci-fi hit PITCH BLACK sees Vin Diesel enthusiastically returning to his role as Richard B. Riddick. Director-writer David Twohy is on board again, building on themes established in the first movie, and expanding his vision with some incredible special effects work. Twohy opens the movie with Riddick on the run from a group of bounty hunters. He escapes them with ease, then seeks information from an old friend named Inam (Keith David). Inam informs Riddick that he has been singled out by an Air Elemental, Aereon (Judi Dench), as the one man who can stop the evil Necromongers from taking over the Universe. Suddenly, the Necromongers arrive on the planet, causing mayhem and destruction. They capture Riddick. He soon escapes, only to fall into the hands of the bounty hunters he so deftly eluded at the start of the movie. They take Riddick to a rogue prison planet where he is met by scorching heat, an underground penitentiary, and his female companion from PITCH BLACK, Jack (who is now called Kyra, and played by a different actress, Alexa Davalos). They plan their escape from the planet, and vow to bring down the Necromongers. Things don't go according to plan however, leading to a suspense-filled climax to the film, and an eyebrow-raising ending that suggests Twohy may have plans for further installments in the story.

	Colm Feore
	Judi Dench
	Thandie Newton
	Vin Diesel
	Alexa Davalos
	Karl Urban
	Keith David
	Linus Roache
	David Twohy - Director
	David Twohy - Screenplay
	Graeme Revell - Original Music By
	Holger Gross - Production Designer
	Hugh Johnson - Cinematographer
	Jim Wheat - Based On Characters Created By
	Ken Wheat - Based On Characters Created By
	Kevin Ishioka, et. al. - Art Director
	Ted Field - Executive Producer
	Tracy Adams, et. al. - Editor
	Vin Diesel - Producer
	Martin Hunter, et. al. - Editor

Widescreen Review
"A fantastic mix of visual effects and live action shots." 07/01/2006 p.65

Austin Chronicle 8 of 10
The pleasure of The Chronicles of Riddick comes mostly from the fascinating and outlandishly detailed production design, which sprawls across the screen in nearly every shot, with the Necromongers' gigantic starships looking similar to those strange stone heads on Easter Island. Diesel is fine in a role that requires little of him...And Feore, as the soul-sucking Necromonger overlord, is equally engaging in a Darth Vader sort of way, as he orders his clanking minions to "kill them all" and other nefarious platitudes. But perhaps the most daring bit of flimflammery in this bloated-but-enjoyable production is the (perhaps unconscious) allegorical allusions to the United States' current imperialist mindset toward the globe. The Necromongers' cry of "join or die" echoes President Bush's "You're either with us or against us" foreign policy, and Riddick's bad guys, intent on forcing their own brand of "old time religion" on the rest of the universe are a clear parallel to the Bush administration's view that Iraq (and presumably the rest of the Middle East) needs democracy whether they want it or not. - Marc Savlov

ReelViews 7 of 10
With a title like The Chronicles of Riddick, one can assume that David Twohy's movie comes with lofty aspirations. Indeed, there are hints of a complex, involving story here. Unfortunately, too many of the nuances are drowned out by incessant, repetitive action, pointless running around, and computer graphics overindulgence. So, although The Chronicles of Riddick offers its share of solidly entertaining moments, it doesn't hold together as a single, coherent motion picture experience...The Chronicles of Riddick boasts a striking look. The cinematographer is different (Hugh Johnson), but he follows the approach of Pitch Black by employing various color filters to indicate mood swings and lighting changes from planet to planet...The Chronicles of Riddick proves how valuable a commodity Vin Diesel can be when he is used properly. Recently, with duds like A Man Apart, Diesel has been losing both popularity and credibility as an action star. But, once again playing Riddick, he has returned to top form - the charismatic anti-hero who can growl one-liners (most of which are expectedly cheesy), snap bad guys in two, out-grunt his opponents, and accidentally save a civilization or two. Diesel understands this character, and, despite the lapse of four years, he hasn't missed a beat. - James Berardinelli

Chicago Sun-Times 6 of 10
Riddick, played by Vin Diesel, is a character we first encountered in "Pitch Black," the 2000 film by the same director, David Twohy. Although a few other characters repeat from that film, notably Abu "Imam" al-Walid (Keith David), there's no real connection between them, apart from Riddick's knack of finding himself on absurdly inhospitable planets. Here he fights for life on Crematoria, a planet whose blazing sun rockets over the horizon every 15 minutes or so and bakes everything beneath it. That you can shield yourself from it behind rocks is helpful, although it begs the question of why, since the atmosphere is breathable, the air is not super-heated..."The Chronicles of Riddick" is above all an exercise in computer-generated effects, and indeed the project represents the direction action movies are taking, as its human actors (or their digital clones) are inserted into manifestly artificial scenes that look like frames from the darkest of superhero comic books. The jolly reds, yellows and blues of the classic Superman and Spider-Man have been replaced in these grim days with black and gunmetal gray...Vin Diesel was born to play a character like Riddick, and he growls and scowls impressively. I like Diesel as an actor and trust he was born to play other, better, characters, in movies that make sense. None of the other actors do anything we couldn't do if we looked like them. - Roger Ebert