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Chronicles of Riddick - 6/11/04 - PG-13 - 115m
Vin Diesel - Riddick
Colm Feore - Lord Marshall
Judi Dench - Aereon
Director: David Twohy
Written by: David Twohy
Studio: Universal
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JEF
I won’t spend a whole lot of time on this one. The movie doesn’t really warrant a detailed review.
Storyline: Basically a mish-mash of storylines ripped-off from every other science-fiction movie done before. A “superior” race of aliens (who look like humans) called the necromongers are bent on taking over the universe. (As Lyn pointed out, much like the Borg from Star Trek). Well apparently there was one race called the Furions (who also look like humans) who were able to resist the necromongers , and legend has it that only ONE Furion has escaped. This later becomes a confusing point to the storyline. So basically it’s about Riddick being forced to save the universe from this evil guy in a fistfight.
First I need to point something out that a friend of mine pointed out to me, and ever since, not only do I find it true but also pretty funny. As Steve said to me, “How come in all of these big Hollywood movies when there is a struggle for good versus evil, or the whole world or universe being taken over, does it always come down to a fistfight at the end?”
Anyway, I can certainly understand why other critics are bashing this film. There are so many things wrong with it (storyline, filming, dialogue, etc…), but ya know… I kinda enjoyed it. To me it was just a joyride for a person who likes science fiction movies. I thought the effects are well done. Some of the digital effects were nice.
This movie reminded me of a made for cable movie that you might see on the sci-fi channel. Corny, cheesy, some good fight scenes thrown in, with a scattering of explosions, and space ships. But if you look at it in any depth, it’s a bad movie.
One thing that really did bother me was the way the fight sequences were filmed. They used the “shaky camera” technique that really bothers me. Rather than take some extra time to choreograph a good fight scene, the director tells the actors to just swing, and jump around, meanwhile the cameraman jiggles the camera, zooms in and out, and generally makes the viewer sea-sick. I hope one day that this technique will be a thing of the past, like when they would shake the camera on Star Trek to make it look like the space ship was hit by a photon torpedo.
So, I’d only recommend this to a real fan of the sci-fi channel, or perhaps if you are looking to escape the summer heat, and spend 2 hours in an air-conditioned theatre with nothing better to do. Other than that, you should probably skip this movie.
Jef
Here’s what Lyn thought…
