I am a huge fan of the Chronicles of Riddick series.
Pitch Black was a dark horse that came out of nowhere, and even though it borrowed elements from the Alien franchise, it sparkled with an originality and uniqueness that made it a memorable little film.
Then along came the sequel, the Chronicles of Riddick, which has to be one of the best sequels, after The Empire Strikes Back, for taking a franchise to a whole other level rather than simply repeating the same formula from the original hit.
I had been waiting for the third film with baited breath for years, and really couldn't wait to see how this trilogy was going to be developed, or ended.
What I got was a paint-by-numbers rehash of the first film, but without any of the things that made the original so great.
There are literally entire segments and concepts that are stolen from the first film, from the chained up Riddick, to the alien monsters, to the tough blonde female.
What was so frustrating about this film was the fact that they had been handed a golden opportunity to develop an amazing story following on from the ending of the second movie, yet it is all just thrown out within in the opening act of this film with a cheap plot device that doesn't even really make a lot of sense when you stop and think about it.
From there Riddick just follows the formula of Pitch Black, except this time the execution is nowhere near as competent.
When the monsters do arrive the tension hasn't been properly built, and then the final stanza is rushed - the end result being a movie with a forgone and drama-less conclusion.
To make matters worse we have a cheesy ending that literally looks like it was tacked on as a quick and easy wrap up to the film.
As a fan of this franchise I have to say that Riddick was the worst of the three films, and it has squandered what easily could have been a sci-fi trilogy as unique and memorable as the original Star Wars one was.
Pitch Black was a dark horse that came out of nowhere, and even though it borrowed elements from the Alien franchise, it sparkled with an originality and uniqueness that made it a memorable little film.
Then along came the sequel, the Chronicles of Riddick, which has to be one of the best sequels, after The Empire Strikes Back, for taking a franchise to a whole other level rather than simply repeating the same formula from the original hit.
I had been waiting for the third film with baited breath for years, and really couldn't wait to see how this trilogy was going to be developed, or ended.
What I got was a paint-by-numbers rehash of the first film, but without any of the things that made the original so great.
There are literally entire segments and concepts that are stolen from the first film, from the chained up Riddick, to the alien monsters, to the tough blonde female.
What was so frustrating about this film was the fact that they had been handed a golden opportunity to develop an amazing story following on from the ending of the second movie, yet it is all just thrown out within in the opening act of this film with a cheap plot device that doesn't even really make a lot of sense when you stop and think about it.
From there Riddick just follows the formula of Pitch Black, except this time the execution is nowhere near as competent.
When the monsters do arrive the tension hasn't been properly built, and then the final stanza is rushed - the end result being a movie with a forgone and drama-less conclusion.
To make matters worse we have a cheesy ending that literally looks like it was tacked on as a quick and easy wrap up to the film.
As a fan of this franchise I have to say that Riddick was the worst of the three films, and it has squandered what easily could have been a sci-fi trilogy as unique and memorable as the original Star Wars one was.
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