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Plot Summary
Vin Diesel reprises his role as the antihero Riddick in the latest chapter of the groundbreaking saga. A dangerous, escaped convict wanted by every bounty hunter in the known galaxy, Riddick has been left for dead on a sun-scorched planet that appears to be lifeless. Soon, however, he finds himself fighting for survival against alien predators more lethal than any human he’s encountered. The only way off is for him to activate an emergency beacon and alert mercenaries who rapidly descend to the planet in search of their bounty. With time running out and a deadly storm on the horizon that no one could survive, his hunters won’t leave the planet without Riddick’s head as their trophy. Also starring Katee Sackhoff (TV’s Battlestar Galactica), Karl Urban (Star Trek Into Darkness) and Dave Bautista (WWE). Experience the Riddick Unrated Director’s Cut with an alternate ending!
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Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews
TOMATOMETER
59%- Reviews Counted: 155
- Fresh: 91
- Rotten: 64
- Average Rating: 5.4/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: The dust churns, the clouds gather, the bullets fly, the men fall. The Diesel rises.
Rotten: Riddick, an alternately kick-ass and clumsy piece of sci-fi claptrap that puts its empty head down and gets the job done.
Rotten: Move along, there's nothing to see and no one to root for in this murky franchise reboot.
Fresh: David Twohy's film is scarcely original, but the sheer survivalist grind of our hero, against comical odds, becomes appealingly mad ...
Customer Reviews
A GRATIFYINGLY PREPOSTEROUS SCI-FI ACTION FLICK
The character of Richard B. Riddick was first introduced to us in 2000's lean-and-mean low-budget deep space thriller "Pitch Black," which became an unexpected sleeper hit once it was released on home video. Just a mere four years later, along came a sequel: "The Chronicles of Riddick." But unlike its entertaining predecessor, this chapter was a bloated, expensive mess, full of convoluted mythology that was as boring as it was difficult to follow. Now, nearly a full decade later, we finally catch up with him on his own again, and he's a lot more fun without any of the emotional baggage. Once again, the movie, which often feels like a B-grade flick executed with a bit of A-level imagination, is so overly serious that it practically borders on self-parody. But despite its dramatic emptiness and formulaic persistence, the movie greatly keeps the brutally bloody action and nerve-jangling thrills coming in a seemingly nonstop manner, ultimately fulfilling its primary purpose in the long run, albeit with very few surprises appearing along the way. After being betrayed by his cohort Vaako (Karl Urban), our titular antihero (Vin Diesel) is left for dead on a harsh, unforgiving desert planet swarming with extraterrestrial creatures ranging from two-legged water-dwelling alien-scorpions to striped wild dingoes. Riddick, of course, quickly comes to terms with this, even domesticating one of the dogs. And when he eventually triggers an emergency beacon, two teams of bounty hunters turn up to claim the big reward for his capture or death (he is a murderous ex-con, after all). The first scruffy gang is led by wild-eyed Santana (Jordi Molla); the second is more professional, led by the steely Johns (Matt Nable), who has a personal reason for catching Riddick. And just as our hero (so to speak) starts taking out every mercenary one by one, it's clear that no one on this planet will end up leaving alive (or at least not without a big fight). The actors here definitely have a lot of fun with their meathead roles: everyone's muscly and angry, including Katee Sackhoff as Johns' tough right-hand woman. Santana's crew includes man-mountain Dave Bautista as a giant, arrogant thug and, for contrast, Nolan Gerard Funk's nice-guy religious fanatic. Each gets their very brief chance in the spotlight, but this is Diesel's film. And he's the one who outthinks the interlopers in the end, picking them all off one by one until they accept his terms. Director and writer David Twohy keeps our story twisting, with liaisons and betrayals and lots of absurdly nonsensical banter. Some of this is deliberately comical and tongue-in-cheek, even if no one winks at the camera. As for the action, most of it happens at night, with the finale occurring in the pouring rain. This at least improves upon the visually mundane landscapes of the planet, which seem eerily reminiscent of the huge desert set pieces in last year's "John Carter." Of course, when the humans are battling each other, either verbally or physically, it's often far more thrilling than when they're just going up against animated alien creatures. But there's no doubt that the best aspect of this whole film is Diesel as Riddick, as he effortlessly exudes the casual confidence of a no-nonsense brute who knows he can't lose. The only thing that really gets in the way of his performance is the derivative, heavily predictable narrative material he and the rest of the cast are forced to work with. Then again, they all seem to be having a lot of fun with their menacing roles, even if their dialogue is way too silly to be taken even the slightest bit seriously, so I can't complain too much. At the end of the day, "Riddick" is an enjoyably mindless sci-fi blockbuster that manages to hold up fairly well next to its 2000 predecessor. Sure, the plot is generic, and so are the characters, but if you're just in the mood for a meat-and-potatoes action-thriller that serves up plenty of bone-crunching sci-fi thrills and enjoyable CGI visuals in equal measure, then you've come to the right movie. You won't be disappointed if you love excessively ridiculous, testosterone-fueled blockbusters.
Very Orange
This is a very orange film, except very occasionally, when it turns pink. Growling occurs often. There is a dog, and (briefly) a golf ball. Many things are ugly; a few are disgusting. The people are large, or naked, or large and naked. Loudness happens often. There is death, dismemberment, and boredom.
Mostly, though, it’s just orange. Very, very orange.
Comparable
If you liked the Chronicles of Riddick but LOVED Pitch Black, you won’t be disappointed. Its at least as good as Chronicles but neither in my opinion are as good as the first. I do like that the story does not simply continue off of the last one, it uses some similar elements but gives you a new direction to appreciate, taking some of the predictability out of the equation. Worth adding to your collection if you purchased the first two. This UNRATED version is better than the theater version. I saw both (duh).
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- $14.99
- Genre: Action & Adventure
- Released: 2013
- © 2013 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Available Bundle
- Riddick Collection (Unrated)
- Genre: Action & Adventure
- Released: Dec 17, 2013
- View In iTunes