Riddick Blu Ray Review
Years after The Chronicles of Riddick, Riddick (Vin
Diesel) falls from grace at the hands of Necromonger Vaako (Karl Urban). Left
for dead on a barren waste land, Riddick must put himself and his broken leg
back together. Riddick, and an odd alien
dog he raises and trains come across an abandoned outpost. Knowing he has to
get off the rock, Riddick activates the emergency beacon. Since there’s still a
price on his head, two crews of bounty hunters come running in no time at all.
The first group
on the scene is the bloodthirsty group in it for the money, lead by Santana (Jordi
Mollà). The rag tag group of Mercenaries finds themselves at odds with Boss
Johns’ (Matt Nable) group who has come looking for Riddick for more personal
reasons. Riddick, of course, has no plans parting with his head and gives both
groups plenty of problems tracking him down. Riddick soon becomes the smallest
threat, and the groups have to band together with their target against a vicious
alien attack to survive.
Sound like Pitch Black yet? It does run many
parallels with the first film, but fails to find its heart. Riddick decides
early on in the film to go back to his animal self, during the tedious opening,
but what made Riddick a character you could really root for was the glimpses of
humanity beneath the animal. Those shining moments of selfless bravery that
made you think he could be redeemed are gone. Sure he’s always been capable of
incredible violence, and sure he has some cool eyes that allow him to see in
the dark, but some of the stand out moments from Pitch Black came when he was protecting young Jackie. That
protective streak carried over to The
Chronicles of Riddick, but maybe nine years between films is too long to
remember who Riddick was, because here it’s all but vanished. Besides his love
for his pooch, he’s more thug spouting out rape threats than preventing them,
and not even some great action sequences can wipe that flaw from your mind.
Mollà’s
Santana brings a scummy sleaze to Santana, acting like he’s the smartest guy in
the room while events prove he’s anything but. The character is mostly used for
tension breaking laughs, or intense standoff moments. Mollà is definitely the
character you love to hate. Nable’s Boss Johns, is far less memorable, despite
the character having a strong emotional tie back to Pitch Black. The other team members fare no better; even with the
oversized presence of WWE star Dave Bautista, they’re simply pawns to be
knocked over one by one.
The only other character of note is Katee Sackhoff’s Dahl,
but not for the reasons that she should be. Her Dahl is similar to her take on
her Battlestar Galactica character.
She’s tough, smart yet vulnerable, but here those characteristics come off as
more gimmick, especially when she’s the subject of topless shower-scene
objectification, the target of rape threats, or when Riddick’s caveman attitude
somehow wins her over. The strong heroine becomes more act than fact, which is
disappointing.
The film does have some great moments though. Between bloody
battles and Alien hordes there’s plenty of good action, which fans of the
series will enjoy, but character failings which set the tone for the film
certainly isn’t going to attract newcomers.
The director’s cut
fills in some blanks that the theatrical cuts glosses over, as well as some really good camera work
and special effects. It also gives an extended ending which felt more complete.
The blu ray also features featurettes: The World of Riddick, Riddickian Tech,
The Twohy touch, Vin’s Riddick, Meet the Mercs and Riddick: Blindsided.
Riddick will arrive on Blu-Ray and DVD January 14
0 comments: