Riddick Review
RYAN: Riddick is the third in a series of films about the character portrayed by Vin Diesel. I didn’t see the first two, so went in cold. It’s prehistoric meets the future – very sic fi/boy movie. The script is corny. Vin is a lousy actor. The other actors are fine and some effects are cool. I jumped out of my seat at times and was a bit disgusted.
BRAD: I didn’t see the first two either and I found this very predictable and disappointing. The planet he was on and the dialogue, I don’t know what I hated more. The planet in the movie Dune looked like paradise compared to this planet.
RYAN: Way to break out your inner-sci fi geek! Everything on the planet in this movie looked very orange.
BRAD: The Dune planet had more color and action, seriously.
RYAN: This is the first time I’ve walked out of a movie and can’t really tell you what it’s about. There’s no story. Clearly we’d have benefitted from seeing the first two but a good sequel should get you up to speed; especially since this one comes nine years after the last one. I was able to figure out a few bits but not enough to really know what the ‘ell was going on. But it’s confusing and he’s not a hero. He’s a bad guy.
BRAD: He’s an anti-hero. He’s the criminal with a moral code and ethics. I agree though, if you haven’t seen the first two, it’s confusing as hell and thus, completely boring.
RYAN: But the effects and the IMAX were good. All the creatures were creepy. I’m relatively desensitized since I see so much but those things really freaked me out. Maybe it was just the size on the IMAX screen.
BRAD: It didn’t phase me. I don’t want to sound jaded but even the effects didn’t impress me, not in the least. It was all predictable and formulaic.
RYAN: That’s fair. There’s a mutant zebra-dog that I liked but then there are these reptilian, fishy-scorpions that just freaked me out!
BRAD: But after seeing Clash of the Titans and those giant scorpions, that was a no brainer. You’re on a desert planet, what do you need? Something sinister and scary with multi-apendages that will kill you… didn’t buy it.
RYAN: I clearly enjoyed some aspects of it more than you.
BRAD: Karl Urban is billed but only in it for, like, five minutes.
RYAN: Some of the supporting actors were good but the script – lots of misogyny and cheesy lines. It’s rated R. There’s some gore, violence and brief nudity.
BRAD: Vin Diesel also produced it.
RYAN: If you’ve seen the other two, I can see justifying this one; but, it’s just such a bad script, devoid of story and with poor acting on behalf of the star, so I can’t recommend it.
