Riddick (2013)
Contrary to the endorsement on the above poster, Riddick was not "the most entertaining action movie of the year" in 2013. It was just an adequate third instalment in a rather ambitious franchise, that has failed to grab the wider public's attention. That’s not to say that they didn’t make money. This is after all the third movie. Writer and Director David Twohy has done his best to try and make the character of Riddick (Vin Diesel) more than the sum of his parts and I admire both of them for their persistence. Unfortunately, Riddick just isn't engaging or complicated enough a protagonist to sustain a franchise of this nature. The anti-hero was sufficient to drive the original Pitch Black back in 2000 which had some good ideas but just couldn't sustain the overarching and overblown Chronicles of Riddick in 2004. This instalment is competently made but ultimately superfluous.
After the epic scope of part two, Riddick is a far more minimalist movie and in some ways is a partial reboot of the original, following a broadly similar plot. Leaving the Necromongers and Vaako (an incredibly brief cameo from Karl Urban), Riddick is betrayed and marooned on a barren planet. Wounded, he finds himself having to fend of a group of bounty hunters, some of whom have specific personal grudges against him. Writer and director Twohy once again toys with the idea of trying to redeem a morally reprehensible murderer and we have such arbitrary tropes as generic bad guys who sneer and look mean, as well as the old cliché of grudging respect between men of war. The dialogue is hard boiled and most of the plot elements have an all too familiar ring to them.
The acting and script are nothing special and although neither are they shockingly bad. It is all just predictably obvious. There a rather crass sub-plot involving lesbian mercenary Dahl (Katee Sackhoff) who begins to warm to the heterosexual charms of Riddick, which is dumb even by genre standards and considering contemporary sexual politics, somewhat insulting. As ever, the production values are slick despite the lower budget with plenty of creature mayhem, violence and macho posturing. Twohy has an eye for planetary vista's and can certainly craft a good action scene. Free from the pretensions of Chronicles of Riddick and trying to create a more complicated franchise, this third instalment returns to a more standard and user friendly formula. The character of Riddick is better suited to a more focused narrative such as this.
After twenty years and three movies, I think it would be wise for both Messrs Twohy and Diesel to call it a day with regard to the ongoing adventures of Riddick. I don't really see where you can take this particular anti-hero next and more importantly, I am not sure if many viewers would be especially disposed to do so. Again I feel that praise is due for director Twohy, for at least trying to do something different and for the determination in trying to sell the character of Riddick to the public. However, I think it's clear that there is not enough narrative meat on the bones to make people care about him. It will be interesting to see if a fourth sequel emerges or whether Twohy moves on from this franchise. Perhaps the latter would be wiser as his previous movies such as Below and A Perfect Getaway were very promising.
NB. There are two versions of Riddick available. The standard theatrical cut and an extended Director’s cut, which includes 5 minutes of slightly expanded dialogue scenes and some additional nudity. This review is based upon the latter.
