Chronicles of Riddick

[Riggswolfe]

I was surpised to read a fairly good review of this movie at Ain't it Cool news. I thought they were usually fairly tough on movies. I plan to go see it on Sunday just for the hell of it. Mostly to get out of the house for a bit. Anyone else have any thoughts on this movie? It has some intersting casting but the commercials make me think it'll either be ok or Highlander 2 level awfulness.

[HaemishM]

I'm thinking it might be a nice diversion, since I liked Pitch Black. I'm just not sure if the character of Riddick or the actor of Vin Diesel can carry the movie by himself. Not to mention that the entire "feel" of the universe in the trailer seems so off from what little of the universe we saw in Pitch Black.

[Riggswolfe]

Yeah, the universe in Pitch Black was more hard sci-fi while Chronicles of Riddick, from the trailers, reminds me more of something like Dune. We'll see. I like Vin Diesel and like the Riddick char so I'm interested to see it.

On a sidenote I just saw they have an animated DvD out that covers some of the time between the two movies. Man, I'm wondering how long these kinds of trends will go on.

[Krakrok]

Vin Diesel was (is?) a big D&D nerd according to an interview I read. He made up the Chronicles of Riddick world.

[daveNYC]

The images of the world look cool, the name 'Necromunda' is silly.  Probably alone though.

[SurfD]

First off, its "Necromunger" or something similar, and second of all, having just got out of a screening for my theatre, I would heartily recommend you go see it RIGHT NOW.

Dont worry Haemish, the Character of Riddick (in my opinion at least) can definately carry the movie, and Vin does a great job of playing the badass himself.  Sure, he doesent have a huge volume of lines, but he doesent really need them.  For Riddick, its all about the personality.

As to the universe of the first movie, I would have to ask, what universe?  We had a moderately high tech style spaceship, then they crashed on a backwater outpost planet that had been ravaged by the alien thingies, then we see another high tech spacecraft rescue the survivors.  

Trying to judge the second movie, and the "universe" in general based on the first movie would be like trying to imagine the StarWars universe based solely off the first movie if it had ended in the Mos Eisly Cantina.

[Rodent]

The images of the world look cool, the name 'Necromunda' is silly.  Probably alone though.

Necromunda was a pretty cool GW game though.

[Riggswolfe]

Vin Diesel was (is?) a big D&D nerd according to an interview I read. He made up the Chronicles of Riddick world.

Yeah. That's actually one of my favorite things about him. Not just that he is a big DnD nerd but that he admits it in interviews. He doesn't try to hide his nerdy past he revels in it. That's enough to make me a fan right there.

Hmmm...a poster here gives it a positive review. I figured f13 would be down on it just on general principal. Sunday it is!

[Roac]

Just from the previews it looks to be a good, though vanilla, sci-fi/action flick.  I think what will set it apart is the riddick character - the anti-hero, as opposed to the crusader heros we often have in movies.  Nice change of pace, and one I think audiances will appreciate.  After dissapointments in Star Wars, Star Trek, and Matrix over the last few years, it will be nice to have a fresh and publically welcomed look at Sci-fi too.  

I didn't care for Tripple X (XXX) at all, or Diesel as a actor in that movie, but from the snippets they've shown of CoR (trailers and some 60s clips on Sci-fi channel), I'm thinking he'll fit into Riddick.  He did a good job in Pitch Black.  It's a role he's typed for, I think.

[Daeven]

The images of the world look cool, the name 'Necromunda' is silly.  Probably alone though.

This whole movie screams Warhammer 40K. And the above is only one of the very small reasons.

[HaemishM]

Yeah, the Warhammer 40k thing struck me across the forehead like a lead pipe when I first saw the trailer. All I could think was "The Inquisition comes to the Hive."

The point I was making about the "universe" in Pitch Black had a lot to do with the tech and the style of clothing, as well as Riddick's demeanor. It seemed like the whole ship was just a more "hard" sci-fi edge than the rather space operatic look of the Riddick trailer. If Pitch Black was like Aliens, Riddick looked like Star Wars, two universes that are completely universes apart in tone.

[MrHat]

I laughed at one of my friends who wanted to see this when we first saw the trailer a while back.

But advertising > MrHat.

So I'm off to watch that this weekend along with all the other movies.  Fucking AMC recently hiked up thier prices, $8 for a student, bah!

[Dark Vengeance]

I think what will set it apart is the riddick character - the anti-hero, as opposed to the crusader heros we often have in movies.

I don't consider the anti-hero character to be anything new, especially since Tim Burton's first Batman film. The trend goes back further, but Batman seemed to bring the anti-hero and dark brooding hero to a new prominence.

Riddick is a cool character with a gimmick (nightvision) that is hard to stretch. Pitch Black was saved by Vin's performance and realization of the character....you have to admit that a guy with nightvision that lands on a planet inhabited by voracious creatures that only attack in the dark, on the brink of an eclipse that will put them in total darkness for several days is pretty convenient.

Aside from the baddass anti-hero with the super power that makes him perfectly suited for the situation, Pitch Black is just about a straight ripoff of the formula perfected in the Aliens films.

I'm thinking I'll probably wait for this as a rental...not very hyped about Riddick. Maybe if I'm in the mood for a mindless popcorn flick.....but this has potential to be 'Dungeons and Dragons' bad.....'Street Fighter' bad....possibly even 'Kull the Conqueror' bad. I'd rather watch in an environment where I can heckle the shit out of it if my worst fears are realized.

Bring the noise.
Cheers............

[Paelos]

The worst part about Street Fighter was that it was Raul Julia's last movie. That in and of itself is a crime against film.

[schild]

Was it? I thought he died during the filming of Adams Family Values, though Street Fighter was released in theaters afterwards....

[WayAbvPar]

I think he knew that Street Fighter was a debacle of Biblical proportions, and took the easy way out rather than have to face people after they saw it.

[Dark Vengeance]

The worst part about Street Fighter was that it was Raul Julia's last movie. That in and of itself is a crime against film.

Not the first time a great actor died after/during a bad movie though.

Orson Welles died during production on Transformers: The Movie. While I will probably be a fan of the original Transformers my entire life, even I could acknowledge that TF:TM was a smoldering turd compared to the other films of his career.

Then again, at least TF fanbois LIKED TF:TM.....I don't even think rabid SF fans liked Street Fighter. On the bright side though, at least nobody died while making the atrocious Double Dragon movie....though I certainly wish some of them had.

Bring the noise.
Cheers.............

[Paelos]

I don't know, Orson Wells could have been pretty jazzed about the Transformers gig. I mean, they are more than meets the eye.

As for Riddick, it's going to take more than what I've seen or heard to actually get me off my ass and into the theatre. In fact, that takes a lot, my ass is huge. Couple that with the fact that I feel like I'm getting bent over at the ticket counter and I'll probably only see 3-4 movies a year.

[daveNYC]

First off, its "Necromunger" or something similar...

Necromonger according to the review I read.  The Times listed it as being entertaining in an all action, all the time sort of way.  Probably worth seeing, not sure if it'll be worth $9.50 though.

Having Warhammeresque look and feel for the setting is always a plus for me.

[Alluvian]

My wife wants to see it, so we are seeing it tonight after work.  I am not really looking forward to it other than the fact that I like movies and like going out so see them in general.

Looking forward to Spiderman 2, and that is about it that I can think of this summer.  I am a spiderman nerd.  Favorite comic of my youth and I have been catching up since I discovered you can bit torrent for comic books.

[Rasix]

Well, it's getting slammed.  Not usually a good sign with that many negative reviews.  

This quote probably sums it up quite well, "Overall, "The Chronicles Of Riddick" is what it is -- a big, cheesy sci-fi flick tailor-made for a young male audience looking for things that go boom. It's big, loud and meaningless."

My mom would probably love it. She loves cheesey action flicks like The Mummy, etc etc. But even those movies tend to garner a bit better reviews than this.  

I probably won't see it in theatres. My wife and I aren't the biggest Vin Diesel fans. Really, the CGI looked really shitty from the previews, the world looked horribly derivative, the acting looked bad, and I don't really give a shit about a rebel without a cause that's major power is night vision. Double meh.

Hmmm...a poster here gives it a positive review. I figured f13 would be down on it just on general principal. Sunday it is!

Don't be afraid, some of us still adhere to standards. ><

[Alluvian]

I liked it.  Better than Pitch Black actually.

As far as grit, this movie was grittier than pitch black overall.  The world was gritty.  The stuff in the previews are the necromonger stuff which is meant to be in stark contrast to the rest of the world.  Sort of the clean, cold, and lifeless feel.  Fun movie.  The Riddick character is fun, just like he was in pitch black.  A bit over the top in some of the action scenes, but good popcorn flick.  Far better than things like Van Helsing for sure.

[Joe]

We saw it last night.

It's so incredibly different from Pitch Black, you really don't need to know anything about the character's past. It was far more space opera/action, as opposed to Pitch Black's survival/suspense type deal. The one thing I really didn't like was the insertion of other races of humanoids, when they really weren't even mentioned in the first movie. The races were pretty cool, and the world itself was very intriguing; it blended mysticism with sci-fi much better than the two newest Star Wars flicks.

The dialogue was really atrocious. I mean, the overall plot was cool, and Riddick's one-liners rocked, but the actual lines were nearly as bad as the teenage angst scenes in Episode 2 (note: almost - I'm pretty sure nothing's as bad as, "I killed them all! Not just the men, but the women and children, too!"). The chick from MI-2 played a really cheesy version of Lady Macbeth, but her brooding dude was a terrible actor, so they merged into the unintentionally funny column, which at least entertained.

The one thing I really liked was it didn't cut the story short. It was relatively long (nearly two hours), and it didn't take any shortcuts to deliver the plot. The action scenes were timed well, and didn't get in the way of advancing the plot.

I'm not going to recommend it heavily unless someone is really into generic sci fi, and it won't ever rank as high as Pitch Black did for delivery and originality, but the $16 was well spent.

[Alluvian]

Pitch Black didn't have much originality in it at all.  It was a reskin of aliens with an addition that they don't like light (monsters that don't like light is hardly creative) and a ridiculously convenient character in the form of riddick to counteract them.  The character was interesting, but it was just a plot device in the context of pitch black.  Pitch black actually works better as a setup to this movie than as a movie on it's own IMO.  Not that I didn't like pitch black, I really liked it, but I am harly going to call it anything like original.

[Joe]

Well, to be fair, I'd never seen Alien until about six months ago, so the crazy alien chasing crew all over the place deal was very new when I saw it. I will concede Alien kicked Pitch Black's ass in more ways than one.

[Morfiend]

Vin Diesel acting like a tough guy > Sigourney Weaver acting like a tough guy.

But I guess this only applies to Aliens 3+.

[schild]

Vin Diesel in Pitch Black is far superior than Sigourney Weaver in any of that Aliens. That said, any of the Aliens are far better than ALL of the movies that Diesel has been in other than Pitch Black. Sigourney Weaver has way too much testosterone to be an exciting on screen woman. She might as well be a man (oh, and I love the Alien.....Quadrilogy).

[Dark Vengeance]

Vin Diesel in Pitch Black is far superior than Sigourney Weaver in any of that Aliens. That said, any of the Aliens are far better than ALL of the movies that Diesel has been in other than Pitch Black. Sigourney Weaver has way too much testosterone to be an exciting on screen woman. She might as well be a man (oh, and I love the Alien.....Quadrilogy).

Ripley is actually quite scared and vulnerable in Alien, and even throughout much of Aliens. She ultimately finds her strength and overcomes her fear of the Aliens after Newt is lost...it's at this point that she becomes the testosterone-laden, gun-wielding, call-the-mother-alien-a-bitch badass. That was a key point in the development of the character.

Frankly, I always thought they should have left it at 2. Aliens III is a very dark film, even compared to the first 2....kind of unavoidable when you kill the kid in the first 10 minutes of the movie, after saving her was such a big part of the 2nd film. Then they put it to rest by killing the main character, and during the film she basically loses her humanity...similar to the difference seen in Sarah Connor between Terminator 1 and 2. Resurrection was a farce, IMO, and little more than cashing in on the previous films....and unlike another series that went a film too long (i.e. Rocky), Aliens didn't do so for any type of artistic reasons.

Pitch Black was decent for what it was....essentially an Aliens ripoff with an additional plot device. As I said above, Vin's performance saves the film from mediocrity....hence the reason the new film is about HIM, and not about another encounter with the creatures from the previous movie.

Riddick is a cooler character than Ripley, yes. But Riddick was also fairly static in Pitch Black...his unpredictable nature added some suspense to the story, but also masked Riddick's character development. So for my tastes, I'll take the Aliens series over Pitch Black any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

For full disclosure, I own the Aliens series, Pitch Black, the Terminator films (well, not T3), and the Rocky series.

Bring the noise.
Cheers.............

[schild]

Just saw Chronicles. Pretty fuckin good. About 20 minutes of talk in a 2hr10min movie. Everyone should go see it, this will not make the conversion from big to little screen very well.

[MrHat]

While we're making recommendations:

"I am filled w/ Christ love!"

Saved! is a great flick.

EDIT: To appease the slave driver, I'm watching Riddick on Tuesday, if it's better than the Grand Attrocity of Star Trek: Insurrection, it will be money well spent.

[schild]

While we're making recommendations:

We were? I thought this thread was about Riddick....

[Daydreamer]

"I am filled w/ Christ love!"

Saved! is a great flick.

Question: Has the parental break-up/fucked up marriage made a decent actor out of Macaulay Culkin yet?  I really want to see him do King Lear fifty years down the line...

EDIT: linky to an underrated movie for those who don't get the ref.

[Riggswolfe]

For full disclosure, I own the Aliens series, Pitch Black, the Terminator films (well, not T3), and the Rocky series.

Bring the noise.
Cheers.............

Actually surprisingly enough T3 was a decent movie. It probably helps I went in with very low expectations. (The trailers made the movie look terrible.).

I'm going to see Chronicles in about an hour. I'll give my thoughts later tonight.

Edit: Harrison Bergeron is a great movie. I wish it was on DvD because I'd buy it if for no other reason than to get the idea across that more movies like that one need to be made. It blows my mind that it was a TV movie.

[Riggswolfe]

I saw it. I liked it in general. I didn't like some of the camera work. (I detest this new shaky camera during combat trend sweeping Hollywood currently). However I did like most of the characters and the plot was interesting. Not what I expected at all. I expected totally over the top action with barely a breath between.

I like it.

[Alkiera]

I saw Chronicles of Riddick today, too.  I liked it.  I agree with the previous WH40K comments, but with Vin being a gamer, and a producer on the movie, I can't say I'm really surprised.  It fits very well.  Actually, I'd prolly like this universe better than 40k.  (Everything I've read of 40k makes humanity+whatevers to be complete freaking idiots.  I have a very hard time swallowing the 'automated factories make everything so no one knows how to make anything anymore, and can barely manage to get the stuff to function once it's made' premise.  The average human may be that stupid, but today's average is apparently MENSA material in WH40k.)

I digress.  The movie was good.  More amusing lines from Riddick, and some true 'Yes, as a matter of fact I *AM* a badass' scenes.  Apparently there's a book out made from the screenplay that has some additional scenes in it, which my friends had read and told me about...  leaving some of them in might have helped understanding of a couple events, but I don't know how they'd affect the flow of action.  They weren't really necessary, but might have been nice.  Maybe they'll be on a DVD release.

--
Alkiera