Writer-director David Twohy’s follow-up to his underappreciated 2000 sci-fi thriller, “Pitch Black,” marks a fine return to action-hero form by Vin Diesel, but suffers from excess and a storyline that is more convoluted than White House spin on the Abu Gharaib scandal. “Riddick” is intense and visually intoxicating, but where its modestly-budgeted predecessor was almost egghead-like brainy, this much brawnier film instead tries to bully us with a barrage of computer-generated effects, ear-damagingly loud explosions and overblown chase sequences. “Riddick” assaults the senses, and many folks will no doubt exit theaters feeling as though the ass Diesel kicked — and he kicks serious ass — was theirs.
A dreary universe — not sure if it’s ours, but it looks an awful lot like Poland during rainy season — is being ravaged by an unholy army of aptly-named Necromongers. Led by the powerful Lord Marshal (Colm Feore), these Necromongers are a disagreeable lot with gloomy matching wardrobes (why do villains hate pastels and bright floral patterns so much?) The good guys have failed at every turn to slow the ruthless goth killers, so they turn to Riddick, a one-man wrecking crew who’s been on the lam for five years. Riddick’s a loner, an anti-hero (it says so right in the production notes), but clearly game to take on the Necromongers, especially after they get their hands on the teenaged girl who was called Jack in “Pitch Black,” but has transformed into a comely prison inmate named Kyra (newcomer Alexa Davalos). His demise at the hands of Riddick having been foretold by Judi Dench, Lord Marshal attempts to use Kyra to blackmail the bald stud into joining his crew instead … and then things REALLY get confusing. Perhaps aware that our cranial mush is being enervated by all this nonsense, Twohy amps up the action midway through. The relentless sound and fury will certainly appeal to some — video game junkies come to mind — but others will find it oppressive. (Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action and some language. Running time: 119 minutes)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 11, 2004. Read the original PDF.