It’s been almost ten years since we last saw Vin Diesel’s antihero-turned-Necromonger King, Richard B. Riddick, grace the big screen. Thankfully, that wait is finally over with Riddick, a pared-down, back-to-basics approach that feels more like Pitch Black than Chronicles of Riddick, wearing its R-rating proudly on its sleeve and delivering the goods for fans who have been waiting and campaigning for Riddick's return.
Riddick picks up pretty much where Chronicles left off with Diesel as the stalwart Necromonger King looking for answers and a return to his roots once he learns that Commander Lord Vaako (Karl Urban) knows the whereabouts of his home planet Furya. Happy to hand over his kingdom to Vaako, Riddick sets out for what he thinks is a journey home, but he’s left marooned in a desolate alien world where his only chance for survival is triggering an emergency beacon. The beacon immediately alerts every mercenary and intergalactic bounty hunter to the whereabouts of the universe's most wanted criminal of all time, making Riddick’s plan for a safe exit all the more dangerous.
Pretty much hitting every nail on the head, Diesel slips back easily into Riddick's skin in this latest chapter in the Riddick trilogy. The confidence he's gained as an actor through his work in films like Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6 (or even his fantastic turn as a mobster who represented himself during his own trial in the hugely underrated Find Me Guilty) really shows here too. Diesel seems like he's having the time of his life with witty one-liners and a penchant for doling out as much pain and carnage as possible to anyone who happens to cross his path, human or otherwise.
In Riddick, Diesel is supported by a pretty stellar cast including Jordi Molla and Matt Nable who have a nice, authoritarian balance of machismo between them. There's also the great Katee Sackhoff, whose ball-busting bounty hunter, Dahl, is one of the more spirited female roles we've seen in modern science fiction cinema in some time and manages to match Riddick in the badassness department throughout the film.
Something totally unexpected is that for almost the entire first act of the film, Diesel and Twohy boldly choose to give us their version of Man vs. Wild. We see Riddick getting back to his visceral roots in a series of scenes that has him battling the various creatures of the planet he's been left behind on. Riddick also gets some kind of companionship in the form of a jackal-esque canine who he trains to be his scout and protector.
Not only did this approach surprise me, but it added another level of depth to the story and the character of Riddick that we've ever seen before. It felt like a really old-school approach to creating an iconic character in a science fiction film and my hat is off to both Twohy and Diesel for making something so unexpected in a modern R-rated sci-fi action movie work so well.
Considering their modest budget for this go-around, Riddick looks surprisingly vibrant with the blending of the CG-world blending almost seamlessly with the impressive sound stage set pieces that feel like a Frank Franzetta painting brought to life. The bleak and rustic color palette Twohy has chosen for Riddick works incredibly well with the material and all the various creatures are rather impressive too.
As far as the Blu-ray release of the film goes, Universal Home Entertainment did a stellar job with Riddick, as the movie looks and sounds great. Fans can also look forward to two versions of Twohy’s latest on the Blu-ray as well. While I’m certainly a fan of the theatrical version, there are some great fan service moments in the extended ending of the unrated cut, which I totally dug and would recommend fans of the series check out as it most likely will tie into future installments. The unrated cut also boasts a few more extended scenes (nothing real noticeable), a bit more gore and nudity- essentially all awesome things for Riddick fans.
The Blu-ray also boasts a few other exclusives as well, including several behind-the-scene featurettes: “The World of Riddick” explored the mythology of Twohy and Diesel’s universe and “Twohy Touch” profiled the writer/director and his approach to this series as a whole. “Riddickian Tech” is a look at all the weapons and tech featured throughout the film and was my personal favorite of the bunch.
Closer in spirit to the lean and mean Pitch Black than its immediate predecessor, Riddick essentially feels like its sole purpose was to reboot the franchise and it does so successfully with its sense of gleeful machismo firmly in place. Returning to helm the final chapter in this trilogy, writer/director Twohy finds some new places to take that material, allowing Riddick to not only be a great continuation of this franchise, but also a rather impressive and slick slice of sci-fi gold that makes me hope that this won't be the last we see of Diesel’s iconic antihero.
Film Score: 4/5, Disc Rating: 4/5
Heather A. Wixson was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, until she followed her dreams and moved to Los Angeles in 2009. A 14-year veteran in the world of horror entertainment journalism, Wixson fell in love with genre films at a very early age, and has spent more than a decade as a writer and supporter of preserving the history of horror and science fiction cinema. Throughout her career, Wixson has contributed to several notable websites, including Fangoria, Dread Central, Terror Tube, and FEARnet, and she currently serves as the Managing Editor for Daily Dead, which has been her home since 2013. She's also written for both Fangoria Magazine & ReMind Magazine, and her latest book project, Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume One will be released on October 20, 2021.
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