It's been many years since the character of Riddick came to cinemas. Back in 2000, director David Twohy made his first big screen success with the film Black Darkness. At that time, Vin Diesel was also starting out in movies, having only taken supporting roles (Saving Private Ryan) and also animated hero roles (The Iron Giant) before that. The combination of director, lead actor became the cult film that the film references 13 years later. Interestingly enough, the story of the first Riddick was supposed to be one variation of the Alien sequel. It didn't happen, and the talent, acting, and other things made this film a cult.
A few years later, the director and the lead star decided to expand the universe with a big Star Wars-style movie. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, and Riddick: The Dark Chronicles was a major failure that ruined a successful director and delayed the sequel for nine long years. The director did convince the producers to put a lot of construction dollars into the star-studded cast that appeared in the film, but unfortunately it was not a success.
In 2013, the 3rd installment was completed. But again on a small budget and again with only a few actors.
Unlike Black Darkness, where many of the settings were real and believable, the latest Riddick unfortunately suffers from the fact that 98% of the film is shot entirely in front of green screen in studios. Both as a director and as a writer, the director took a cue from the first installment, but tweaked some things to make the film successful at the time of filming.
Riddick was left at the mercy of the fauna on a lost planet after the story in Part 2. Manhunters are looking for him to take the bounty on his head. Thanks to the arrival of the hunters, Riddick gets a way out. Of course, there's also the fauna that emerge from the flora in the rain and darkness. The first half of the bounty hunters are killed by Riddick himself, the second half are killed by the animals, and so only a few survivors make it to the end of the film and escape the planet, incl. Riddick.
Other than Vin Diesel and Karl Urban, who only appear for a few of the moments, the main star is Katee Sackhof, who you all know as Kara „Starbuck“ Thrace from Battlestar Gallactica. With the choice of this actress, more people definitely came to see the film than if she hadn't been there.
Unfortunately, Riddick 3 is only a weak sequel to the first film, so it's a great shame that the filmmaker didn't try to make a better story that wasn't so weak and built on the invincibility of the main character. It's also let down by the fact that it's only filmed in studios, and so the studio-ness, incl. CGI monsters stands out. Fortunately, by making the film largely digital, the picture is perfect.
I'll also mention the dubbing for the film. The Czech version dubbed by court dubber Daniel Dítěte is not to be missed and suits the entire film. While it's better to watch the film in the original, the dubbing doesn't spoil Riddick.
Photo © Universal Pictures
Original release of this article October 12, 2021 – Kritiky.cz
