Just watched Riddick and it's my favorite sci-fi flick this year so far, and probably my favorite genre film as well. It's a back to basics, simple storyline that doesn't over-complicate itself, full of cool creatures with surprisingly good effects and animation work. It hits hard and makes good use of its R-rating, a rarity in this day and age that really makes Riddick feel like a throwback to the days of 80s sci-fi. It's got some 3rd act problems and the secondary characters aren't as well written or acted as the ones in Pitch Black, but this has the best Riddick moments of the series and borders on being my favorite of the 3. The first 1/3 in particular is just outstanding, a sci-fi version of a Jack London survival story, full of clever visual storytelling. Once the mercs show up there's some sloppy dialogue and motivations here and there, but it still delivers lots of hard-hitting set-pieces, and actually does some clever subversions on sci-fi tropes and the 1st movie. If it has a failing, I think it leans too hard on the original Pitch Black for its own good,

The other disappointment is the throwaway treatment of Katee Sackoff's character, especially considering how great Radha Mitchell was in the original.

That being said though, while it's not a perfect script like Dredd was last year, this very much feels in that same vein, and particularly if you're a fan of the series, I think you're in for a treat after what's been an especially dire year for genre films.

Last edited by bullet3 (2013-09-07 05:46:45)