Riddick Movie Review

Riddick (2013)

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Written by: David Twohy (written by), Jim Wheat & Ken Wheat (based on characters created by)
Directed by: David Twohy
Starring: Vin Diesel, Karl Urban, Katee Sackhoff, Dave Bautista, Bokeem Woodbine
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
Left for dead on a sun-scorched planet, Riddick finds himself up against an alien race of predators. Activating an emergency beacon alerts two ships: one carrying a new breed of mercenary, the other captained by a man from Riddick's past.

Verdict
This is closer to the first movie in tone after the overstuffed, trope filled sequel. Riddick yet again must escape a near uninhabitable planet, this time pursued by two groups of mercenaries. There's no character development, but it does include a few subplots. This is longer than it needs to be, and I wish the conclusion was more innovative.
It depends.

Review
This concludes my rewatch of the Riddick movies. The first is easily the best because expectations were low and it offers a couple of surprises. Second best is the third movie, this one. It tries to recapture the tone of the first movie though it's more generic. The second decidedly comes in last as it stuffs so many tropes into the movie, and it's never very interesting.

Vin Diesel plays Riddick

This starts with Riddick left for dead, and then we get a lengthy voice over to bridge the gap from the last movie where Riddick was the king of some undead army. It's a soft reboot to get this movie closer in tone to the first, as it should be. It's a step in the right direction after Chronicles of Riddick where Riddick was the chosen one, the last of his race, and the savior of the world. It's not a role that fits the character.

This movie is smaller in scale with a narrow focus on this one planet. The introduction is a bit too long as the crux of this movie ends up being survival. It is surprisingly comical, and Riddick even gets a puppy. I don't think we needed a puppy, and this doesn't need comic relief. The couple of times it happens always feel strange.

Katee Sackhoff plays Dahl

Through plot contrivance Riddick ends up pursued by two bounty hunter groups. This is a great basis for the plot, and the problem is that it takes too long to get there. The mercenaries both want Riddick and don't like each other. They figure a whole team of people can take Riddick down, but they soon realize they're in over their heads. This smartly focuses on these mercs. Katee Sackhoff plays Dahl, and while second in command her distinguishing feature might be as the actor that was in Battlestar Galactica. Dave Bautista also plays a merc. The mercenaries are developed just enough to make them distinguishable, and we even get a character that links us to the first movie. The myth of Riddick increases as we don't see him. Both mercenary teams use an outpost as their base, as they've agreed to an uneasy truce. Their fear grows as Riddick takes them down one at a time. Even when they catch him, he's playing mind games with them.

This is a sequel truer to Pitch Black, and I have to wonder if that movie was the basis for this sequel as it follows rather closely. Like the first movie this is an uninhabitable planet with monsters that only appear under certain conditions. Riddick is the only one that can get them off this planet.