==Tl;Dr—cringy, edgelord characters that take the subject matter completely seriously, but thanks to great pacing and consistently watchable characters and action, with gorgeous production design, it's still a good watch==

This film has an edgelord protagonist, main characters, and laugh-worthy scene setups at times, all straight out of a teenage boy's notebook, **but** It's also got phenomenal production design, costumes, and some capable actors (even if it does waste Nick Chinlund), and the whole product is actually quite nice to look at—especially considering how much time they spend inside a sci-fi prison, and even manages some nice bits of creative cinematography (that strut sequence with Urban and Newton is like a bizarre combo of _Zoolander_ and _Alien_, and I had to watch it twice when it played.)

I still couldn't ever take them seriously when they kept saying 'necromund'. Poor actors. Very attractive actors, though. And they all fit the roles and had the right look. There are plenty of "glamor shots"— of costumes/armor, Thandiew Newton in skin-tight dresses that are both glamorous and fascinatingly alien, of Riddick's fantastic physique, of Alexa Davolos looking like a sexy combat chica short stack next to Riddick. They also put an insane amount of baroque detail work into that knife; it's gorgeous and I want it, and I don't even collect weapons.

While I didn't really think much of _Pitch Black_, (and actually turned it off before the end), this was a thoroughly enjoyable watch from start to finish, even as seriously as it took its juvenile script, it somehow worked surprisingly well due to great pacing and compelling overall filmmaking, with unique and fascinating visuals.

It's hard for me to say that _The Chronicles of Riddick_ is **good**. Especially taking into the stunning origin it has in _Pitch Black_. But it tries really hard. It tries to be good, it tries to be original, it tries to appeal to so many disparate groups, it tries to go in a completely new direction. This trying mostly translates to failure, and I guess I can see that, but _Chronicles of Riddick_ still had such a massive impact on me, that I still have to recommend it.

_"Threshold! Take us to the Threshold!"_

_Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go._

This is very much a vehicle for Vin Diesel to flex his muscles and engage in 2 hours of kick-ass adventure. The plot is pretty unimportant: "Riddick" arrives on a planet and is soon hired by Dame Judi Dench to go up against the brutal "Necromongers" - a sort of intergalactic cricket led by Colm Feore, who are hell bent on destroying humanity. After quite a long, slow, start it does not hang about; we have loads of decent special effects as he is double-crossed, imprisoned and ultimately joined with Karl Urban and Thandie Newton to take on the army of locust-like beasties. It's not the best of the "Riddick" films, but it has a good cast and a half-decent story to keep it off the rocks. Don't look for intellectual stimulation; just think - ice cream for the brain - and you will probably quite enjoy this. I did.