'Riddick' is no 'Pitch Black'

By Tom Long
The Detroit News

THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK (PG-13) This faux sci-fi epic takes the Riddick character established in the contained and far better "Pitch Black" and sends him hopping all over the universe to prove he can escape any prison and single-handedly take on a mankind-destroying outer space zombie cult. Even action fans may find their souls feeling empty after viewing this mess. Vin Diesel, Colm Feore, and Thandie Newton star for David Twohy. Universal, 115 minutes.

Quick, let's get to another action sequence!

A very muscular Vin Diesel reprises his role from "Pitch Black," the unlikely hit that launched him as a wannabe action star.

While "Black" had escaped-convict Riddick working within a fairly limited landscape — one planet, one type of monster, one spaceship — "Chronicles" has him hopping all about the universe, flexing and kicking bad guy butt.

In fact, writer-director David Twohy seemingly cuts one screenplay in half and inserts another in its middle. So while the first part of the film has Riddick battling a sort of zombie-devil cult that's methodically wiping out mankind, the center sees him back in a prison on a hellish planet proving he is indeed the great escape artist everyone thinks he is. After that, he jets back to the first script to conclude his confrontations with the zombie cult.

As outer-space zombie cults go, this one's a bit weak, although they do have nice helmets. Colm Feore is the leader, Lord Marshal, a fellow who apparently has succumbed to the dark side without picking up Darth Vader's mask or breathing habits. Feore's biceps are about the size of Riddick's pinky finger.

Thandie Newton plays his evil mistress. She's trying to overthrow Lord Marshal with the warrior Vaako, brought to humorless life by Karl Urban, who looks like one of those longhaired gorgeous types from "The Lord of the Rings."

Floating through all this mess as some sort of calculator-witch is Judi Dench in full Oscar (What Oscar?) mode. Hey, you can't blame a girl for picking up a paycheck.

Twohy is obviously trying to set up a sci-fi franchise here and chances are he'll get a shot — for at least one more film in the series — even if this is completely unlike "Pitch Black" (which was a much better film simply because it felt new; this feels rehashed). Working in mostly ominous tones, he has a sort of faux epic thing going on with "Riddick"; he stumbled on a great character, now he's blowing him out of proportion in true Hollywood summer style.

As for Diesel, well, he looks cool, and all the hyper-fast, strobe fight sequences likely will please fans. But the promise from his roles in "Saving Private Ryan" and "Boiler Room" is nowhere evident here. Of course, with this script, it couldn't be.

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and some language.