MOVIE REVIEW: RIDDICK

Went to watch "The Chronicles of Riddick" (TCoR) last night with Pian and Adjie. Actually was not really keen to watch Riddick (I'm no fan of Vin Diesel (VD) and action movies), but decided to watch it 'cause my friends assured me that the CGI effects are superb which I do agree.

WARNING:
Spoilers ahead! If you're planning to watch the movie, STOP reading this INSTANTLY!!! Proceed at your own risk. =)

TCoR is the sequel to Pitch Black (also starring VD) released in 2000. I didn't watch Pitch Black so I don't have any idea about Riddick in the first few scenes.

The movie starts with a narration about the bad guys, in this case it is the Necromongers led by the Lord Marshal (LM). The quest of the Necromongers was to go to underverse, with most of the followers willing to die for the LM without question on his maniacal quest to conquer the universe. In order to get to their Promised Land (Underverse) they either destroyed entire civilizations or converted them along the way.

Enter Riddick, a bad guy you don't want to mess with. He cares not about the Necromongers and their quest. He just wants to be left alone by the bounty hunters. But the Necromongers made the huge mistake of killing his friend, Imam. Pissed off, Riddick decided to avenge his friend's death. Here's where the fun begins.

In this movie, we will be taken for a ride into the LM's ship and Crematoria ( a max security prison fire-laden planet where you don't want to linger to catch the sunrise). Look out for the creature that serves as the tracker/sensor for the Necromongers.

I found that the writers blended some classical literature in this movie. Keep your eyes open to catch the traces of Shakespeare's Macbeth in it. Macbeth's character was portrayed by Vaako, a high commander in LM's army, and his wife , Dame Vaako (played by Thandie Newton) playing the power hungry Lady Macbeth.

There's also influences from the the New Testament in which an entire generation of innocents (children) were killed to prevent a prophecy from occurring. As Herod the Great ordered the deaths of Jewish Children to prevent the taking of his throne by Christ so did the LM attempt to destroy the entire race of Furians (Riddick's mysterious race) by killing all Furion infant males at birth.

VERDICT:
Interesting movie, great effects. The ending gives a feeling that there's a sequel in the future. If it's physical action you want, watch this. If you're looking for an intelingence/emotionally-stimulating movie, look somewhere else.

What do you think?