The Chronicles of Riddick [2004]
Director: David Twohy
Actor: Vin Diesel, Judi Dench, Karl Urban, Thandie Newton
Pitch Black was a surprise success, attributed to, among other things, the edginess of the good/bad guy Riddick. It didn’t take long for the results from the focus groups to come in which basically all said; We Want More Riddick! Now!
In Pitch Black, Riddick seemed capable of doing almost everything. He was superhuman, superfast, supersmart and super-badass. But it wasn’t annoying because he was surrounded by people who were obviously his inferiors. In Pitch Black Riddick was an exceptional guy.
Enter Chronicles of Riddick, set five years after Pitch Black. Riddick, Jack, and the Imam got off the planet and made their way towards Helion Prime, where New Mecca was. The Imam would take care of young Jack and Riddick left them once they were at Helion Prime because as much as Riddick cared for the young girl Jack, he would always have bountyhunters after him. Five years later, Riddick is living on a frozen planet, alone, just the way he likes it, until a group of mercs come looking for the bounty on his head.
He, familiar with the lay of the land and anticipating a day like this, easily defeats the mercs and finds out who’s put the bounty on his head. It appears to be a certain Imam from Helion Prime. Devasted Riddick heads for Helion Prime to get some answers. He finds out that the Imam, together with a mysterious Elemental*, played by Judi Dench, a mysterious race of super-intelligent, psuedo-corporeal beings, are trying to figure out a way to stop the Necromongers, a war-like race, made up from different people from different worlds they conquered and destroyed, while searching for their promised land, a dimension called Underverse**. They pillage and scorch world after world, assimilating the survivors in their army, brainwashing them and having them swear allegiance to their dark God.
The Elemental is looking for the last of the Furians, a race of natural warriors, stubborn, war-like and according to the prophecy the only one to stop the Necromongers from killing off the entire universe in search of their Underverse. It is said, a young warrior once asked a visionary about his future. The visionary told him that a Furian would be his downfall, so the young warrior created an army to rival all armies and destroyed the entire Furian system, all planets, and all Furians, those who would not be assimilated were killed. Except for one, who had a nack of escaping; Riddick. This young warrior is the Lord Marshall, the supreme commander of the Necromongers.
At first, of course, Riddick is all like “This is not my fight,” and “Stay the hell away from me,” but it seems the Lord Marshall, as soon as he finds out he missed a Furian in his genocidal spree, wants Riddick dead. Riddick meanwhile is concerned only with one thing; Jack, now known as Kyra, who, eager to immitate her childhood hero Riddick, is a known, convicted killer, living on Crematoria, a prison planet where the the day time sees temperatures of over 700 degrees Celcius, and nighttime temperatures of minus 350.
Meanwhile there’s the story of Lord Vaako and his Dame, played by Karl Urban and Thandie Newton, who are plotting to have the Lord take over the Lord Marshall’s place. Lord Vaako has also been ordered by the Lord Marshall to find the Furian. Good stuff.
This film is not good. It’s not bad, but it’s not good, neither. You get the feeling of a tremendously rich, and well-thought out universe, but it never really shows, never really making this film shine. It’s a beautiful film, with a lot of really cool concepts and elements in it. It’s sort of like a cross between Warhammer 40,000, Stargate and the Fifth Element in the way it looks and feels and it even has a bit of Dune thrown in for good measure. I think I’m going to try and find the animation Chronicles of Riddick, The Dark Fury, which is piece to cover the gap between Pitch Black and the Chronicles of Riddick, and gives more insight into Riddick’s character. If only because I want to see more of that universe.
* Apparently, Vin Diesel being a D&D buff, he, Judi Dench and David Twohy played D&D while on the set, in order for Vin Diesel to explain Elementals to them. Judi Dench’s character is basically a play on the Air Elementals from the Monster’s Manual.
** The Underverse, I think, is like the land of the dead. The name “necromongers” sort of implies that they have a tight link to the dead, which is supported by the notion that while, being assimilated, it hurts until the process of assimilation is over, and then it hurts no more. Perhaps they are killed when assimilated, their pain being taken away in death.
