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Review of David Twohy’s Riddick
After the risible attempt to make a mythic space opera hero out of Riddick in Chronicles of Riddick, Riddick is a back-to-basics attempt to remind audiences how great the character is. The problem is, he isn't; he's one of the reasons Pitch Black is great, but he's not the reason, and his story was essentially complete in that film. Where Chronicles tried to mythologise him, Riddick simply boringly retreads him. →
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Review of David Twohy’s The Chronicles of Riddick
The Australian-produced, low-profile Pitch Black that launched Vin Diesel's career did not need a sequel. It was a great film — a simple idea (a hostile world, plunged into darkness), a straightforward plot (get some supplies, get off the planet before the lights go out), and a clever hook (the only one who can see in the dark is the murdering psychopath they've brought with them) — but it was also a film that had very definitely finished. Diesel's Riddick developed a mini-conscience and saved some people instead of leaving them to die. He'd grown as a person, you see? →