Thursday, March 28, 2024

Movie Review: Riddick is among the worst


Director: David Twohy
Writers: David Twohy, Jim Wheat
Stars: Vin Diesel, Katee Sackhoff, Matt Nable, Jordi Mollà

Synopsis: Left for dead on a sun-scorched planet, Riddick finds himself up against an alien race of predators. Activating an emergency beacon alerts two ships: one carrying a new breed of mercenary, the other captained by a man from Riddick’s past.

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DIRECTION
I’m not sure where to begin, but I’d say the best part of Riddick was the RoboCop trailer at the beginning which was a nice surprise. This is B-Movie material from front to back and it’s one of the worst movies of the whole year. The planet visuals aren’t very good and the CGI isn’t the best and if not for Vin Diesel, there’s nothing here to see. The best character isn’t even human and the action and dialogue is the cheesiest thing I’ve ever seen. There’s not much to like or root for unless you’re a big Riddick fan. It’s pretty graphic with some of the violence and some of it was even unnecessary. Some of the camera work is nice and David Twohy uses slow motion well in some places that were nice. Overall though, forget about it.

Grade: D

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SCRIPT
The story starts with Riddick on a deserted planet all by himself but with voiceovers and flashbacks we see how it came to be and how he got there. He encounters some alien creatures, learns their habits and knows how devastating they are. His best friend is some sort of dog/dingo that was actually pretty fun. After sending out a beacon a few ships show up to capture him since his bounty is doubled if he’s brought back dead but it’s just the thing he needed to get home. From here it’s the typical action-fare, kill everybody and get home B-movie. The dialogue is ridiculous and cheesy at every turn, especially with Katee Sackhoff and Jordi Mollà characters. Dave Bautista’s character has story arc that takes a really bizarre and strange turn that comes out of left field. Some of the lines are pretty funny though and the dog was great so that keeps it from being a complete disaster. This movie has zero depth and is all surface-level action that is not fun at all.

Grade: D+

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PERFORMANCES
Wow, the performances are bad. I will say though it’s mostly because of an awful, awful script and the dialogue makes it laughable, but not it a good way. Vin Diesel is good and the same character we all know but the lines he’s forced to say are sometimes ridiculous. Sackhoff is pretty bad and is over acting in almost every scene. Nothing about her performance seems natural or real. For an actress that’s been in this realm before, it’s like she’s never seen sci-fi before. Mollà and his gang of thugs are better and even funny at times, but overall it’s all forgettable.

Grade: C-

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SCORE
Graeme Revell is pretty good here comparatively to the rest of the film. His score isn’t something you’ll remember but it does have some nice touches to the action scenes that are otherwise forgettable, boring and nothing new. The music itself’ isn’t new either but it is a nice aesthetic for what this film is.

Grade: B-

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Overall Grade: D+

JD Duran
JD Duranhttps://insessionfilm.com
InSession Film founder and owner. I love film. Love art. Love how it intersects with our real lives. My favorite movies include Citizen Kane, The 400 Blows, Modern Times, The Godfather and The Tree of Life. Follow me on Twitter @RealJDDuran. Follow us @InSessionFilm.

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