Riddick (2013) It's Riddickulous

Riddick (2013) Radar Pictures

Last night I saw Riddick and I already know what you are thinking from the title but let’s be honest with ourselves. Action movies are a dime a dozen, but few of them ever move into the realm of being art because they are either too cheesy, storyless, or overdone. Riddick is all those things, but Vin Diesel is only known for films where he can be the silent hero that has quick one-liners that border on the insanely witty or over-the-top. I wouldn’t say that Riddick is a good watch, but I would like to mention that it is at least entertaining. Since this movie is a sequel, the story tried to pick up where it left off after Riddick becomes king of the Necromonger race for what is supposed to be about 5 years even though the movie doesn't really explain the time very well. Eventually, Riddick gets dropped off by Karl Urban on a planet he thinks is his home world of Furya, but he quickly finds out that it is not. He then has to deal with the difficulties of being on a new planet with new threats. After deciding to become more animalistic and primal he sets out to defeat this cobra like water scorpion monster that breaths out of its scorpion tail (later on in the film he becomes an expert on these creatures as if he has been around them his whole life when in reality is was supposed to be a little over 6 months). Anyway the bulk of the movie is about him taking out a group of mercenaries and playing mind games with them. I don’t want to ruin the whole movie but it will suffice to say that death and one-liners ensue. The cinematography was noteworthy and the director of the series was able to more or less tie in its counterparts Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick although the link was not all that believable. The movie is everything you would hope from Vin Diesel and Riddick. I'd didn’t disappoint and was fun. 

Some Problems:

They do not mention his somewhat immediate healing throughout the movie which proves the theory that Riddick heals faster than Wolverine. I get the broken leg he receives which he heals off after a while but he was stabbed twice with objects that have a larger diameter than a sword. He cauterizes one and the other is just no big deal. 

The animals on the planet gain a somewhat immediate respect for him, which is odd but fits the character even though it does not fit the story. 

Supposedly after destroying the Lord Marshall (the Necromonger king and was pretty much unstoppable if it weren't for his pride and desire for theatrics) he becomes 'soft' after killing assassin after assassin on what seems like a regular basis. The other commanders are supposed to have sent these, but none would face him one vs one in single combat (because obviously he is soft.) The question remains as to how he was soft after having to kill assassins regularly on top of being feared by all the other Necromonger commanders, which was exactly what the Lord Marshall before him used to keep everyone in line.  

As a side note one of these assassins meets to his sexual needs which are not apparently met by several other women even though the necromonger race doesn't procreate and has even referred to regular human beings as "breeders."

Riddick seems to be omnipotent throughout the movie to explain what people are going to do and understand the climate changes/animals of the planet he was abandoned on. 

I cannot think of other glaring problems that I would like to address, but I may come back and update this if I ever watch it again.