WARNING: This Review May Contain Spoilers
You want to talk about what made Vin Diesel’s name, then forget about the Fast and Furious franchise because this is where it really began for him. With the rumours floating that there may be a fourth Riddick film, I thought I would take a look back at what has come before.
Richard B. Riddick
If you want to talk about anti-heroes, you can’t go far wrong with Riddick. Escaped convict and murderer but in the end the best person to have on your side in a sticky situation. I will point out however, nothing he ends up getting involved in starts out as of his own accord. What I love about all three films is that we never truly find out Riddick’s complete back story. All we’re told in Pitch Black is how he escaped from prison and we only find out that he isn’t human in the second film. More importantly, Riddick doesn’t know who he is until the second film. Of course, maybe more is revealed about him in the games but I like the mystery and that the first film isn’t weighed down by his story, like a lot of first films can be.
Reunions and the Family Johns
Of course, Riddick can’t be the only character that connects the three films, just not all these reunions are happy for everyone involved. First, he is reunited with the Imam that he saved in the first film but truthfully, it’s Riddick that’s not too happy in this situation. You know I said that he doesn’t get involved under his own volition? Well, a bounty on your head would definitely make you do anything I guess. Then there’s Jack, or Kyra as she likes to be known by Chronicles of Riddick, the only other survivor from Pitch Black. She idolised Riddick from the outset but wasn’t too happy about being left in New Mecca while he was on the run, and doesn’t exactly hide that fact when they meet again in Crematoria.
Riddick, however, is connected to Pitch Black in a slightly different way. Introducing the father of the low-life mercenary William J. Johns, appropriately named Boss Johns. Obviously, this isn’t a reunion because as far as we know they have never met before but he does have his reservations regarding Riddick and is looking for answers. Well, Riddick did leave his son to die after all so I guess he deserves that much.
Different Styles
This is actually the genius part about this franchise, as most of them follow the same kind of genre but The Chronicles of Riddick seriesdoesn’t. For example, the first film borders on being a horror film especially when you take a look at the style of enemy that they encounter and of course, the key of a horror film – the isolation. The second is definitely more of an action film and the third, well I’m not one hundred percent sure how describe it. It slightly encapsulates the two but is definitely reminiscent of the style of Pitch Black.
Visual Effects
This is actually one of the best things about the first film, let alone the rest of them. Firstly, they are on a planet with two suns which doesn’t sound at all interesting at first but once you see that each scene under a different sun is in a different colour, that’s when it gets good. Also, and this is probably my favourite throughout the franchise, is when it is filmed like we are looking through Riddick’s eyes. With his goggles on, it’s grey almost like he’s colour-blind. Without them and in the sunlight, everyone he looks at is like a glowing indistinct form because the light is too much for him. Then there’s his night vision, its purple, which I absolutely love.
Interestingly, the creatures in Pitch Black has a similar greyed vision but the one thing I will say though, they actually don’t look that great when you see them close up. It’s the same for the Necromonger ships in the second film, something about the CGI just looks a little unfinished, which is a shame, because the way the Lord Marshal moves looks much cleaner. Thankfully, by Riddick they had finally got their composition right.
Comedic Relief
I think we’ve got to a point now where most of you know that I think this is an important feature in horror, sci-fi and action films, and The Chronicles of Riddick are no different. If I’m honest though, when I first watched these films I didn’t expect some of it to come from Riddick himself, like him sitting, off in the distance, in Ogilvie’s chair.
In Conclusion
For once, I don’t have a bad word to say about any part of this franchise, other than the fact you don’t really need a reference to The Fast and The Furious franchise in the third film, so I’m going to keep this short and sweet. If Furya is even remotely as good as the three films that have come before it, I think it will have been worth the wait.
