Everything about this film is visionary, groundbreaking and darkly imaginative. There is poetry in its brutal phantasm, and it gets better and better with every viewing. I have watched it over 20 times now, and I'm in complete awe of its otherworldly context. And yet, as bizarre as the Necromonger Empire appears to be, it exists in an orderly and consistent universe that pits human consciousness against both artificial and animal intelligence in a terrifying -- albeit highly entertaining -- lexicon. The cast is as top-notch as David Twohy's screenplay and direction, with Vin Diesel delivering a Riddick one could hardly anticipate from Pitch Black. Thandie Newton, Karl Urban, Linus Roache, Judi Dench, Keith David, Nick Chinlund, and especially Alexa Davalos, all contribute in ways that you couldn't possibly expect because there is nothing conventional about this movie.

THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK is a far cry from the tight, original, exciting B-movie PITCH BLACK, and not necessarily in a good way. Substituting visuals for suspense, this is a wannabe-epic on the level of STAR WARS, complete with loads of alien planets, space travels and a far-reaching plot. It's a distinctively average movie that is nevertheless worth watching for some okay action sequences and, of course, absolutely loads of special effects which are used to bring alien planets and races to life. The CGI backdrops are uniformly good, even if some scenes – like the Necromonger armies massing – are clearly taken from LORD OF THE RINGS. Additionally, the quality of design is at a high all round – from the elaborate, intrinsic sets to the costume design for the Necromonger army, which looks wicked.Unfortunately, the movie is saddled with Vin Diesel as the poor lead again; when will this guy stop making silly movies and earn some credibility in the action world? Vin Diesel is less charismatic than Schwarzenegger, and his morose, unfriendly hero never appeals to the audience. His fellow cast members range from Judi Dench (in it for the pay cheque alone, I guess) to Thandie Newton, whose Croydon facelift and overdone eyeshadow make her look ridiculous and extremely unattractive – and this is MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2's Thandie Newton we're talking about; I didn't think that would ever be possible. Karl Urban, always good value, has a major role as one of the bad guys, but he's given limited screen time. Kudos must go to scene-stealing Nick Chinlund, whose sweaty space-merc is as realistic as you'll find, beating Han Solo hands down.The movie always has plenty going on, and some elaborate action set-pieces help it rattle along quite nicely; Vin Diesel handles his tough-guy scenes well, especially his escape from a rope, which is brilliantly done. There are great ideas, like the sun being hot enough to burn people, and some good effects in a couple of alien monsters that turn red when lusting for blood. A notable martial art fight is edited to shy away from the violence, which is a shame, although the end fight is interesting and quite a lot of fun. The film does end abruptly though, like they just ran out of money, and I can't see a sequel following, so lots of loose ends are left untied.

The Chronicles of Riddick was probably always going to be a hard sell. It's a sequel that was spawned off the back of a blatant B-movie which - somehow - exceeded all expectations and became a sleeper classic, ie. Pitch Black.Chronicles of Riddick is set five years after space convict Riddick escaped the last prison transport (and a planet full of monsters) and has now found himself not only hunted by mercenaries but also charged with the task of bringing down an empire of intergalactic nasties.Personally, I quite enjoyed it. It has great action, some witty dialogue from Riddick himself and decent (if a little too CGI) special effects.However, it's worth noting that it didn't perform as well as it was predicted at the Box Office. I'm guessing that was because it doesn't really seem to know what sort of film it wants to be. Its predecessor, Pitch Black, was an out and our sci-fi horror. Chronicles waters down the fear factor in exchange for a lower rating (in order to draw more younger viewers in) which annoyed its core fanbase. Plus there's only ever really Riddick to root for. He works alone and this is proved by the fact that he barely ever meets up with 'a gang' so to speak of. He just goes from planet to planet, briefly interacting with one set of locals after another. Then you have the baddies. Yes, the costumes and sets are great, but they're pretty clichéd and one dimensional. Ooh, a Bristish bad guy - there's a shock.All in all, Riddick is fun, but the bottom line is that it's little more than a remake of the eighties (so-bad-it's-good) classic Flash Gordon, only with better special effects.

I have been seeing the Riddick movies in mostly a reverse order. A few weeks ago I first saw the recent (2013) one "Riddick", where he had to escape the Mercs, then I saw the first, "Pitch Black" plus the animated short. Now I have finally seen this one, "Chronicles of Riddick." This one is a very dark theme, as the main nemesis are the race calling themselves the Necromongers. It is derived from the prefix 'necro-', which means death, and the term 'necrophilia' which is 'love of the dead.' According to this story, the Necromongers seek to convert all races in the universe into their type, which involves passing through a state of death, or perhaps near death.I found this explanation online. " The Necromongers practice a religion known as Necroism. The primary belief of this religion is that life in this universe is a mistake which must be corrected. This revelation was brought about by the discovery of the Underverse, which is described as another universe in which life is cherished and even the dead are brought back to life. The Underverse is both the afterlife of the Necromongers and the ultimate destination of their interstellar journey. Entrance to the Underverse is restricted to those who follow the Necromonger religion "Vin Diesel is of course back as Riddick, and as this movie starts he is hunted down on a planet where he has been in seclusion for a few years. He wants to find out who revealed his location, and that journey takes him to the Necromongers.The chief among them is Colm Feore as Lord Marshal. An associate (for lack of a better description) is Thandie Newton as Dame Vaako. Even the great Judi Dench has a role, as the half-invisible Aereon. It wasn't totally clear to me whether she was good or bad. And the key hunter was Karl Urban as Vaako.I will not pretend to understand the interactions of all the characters, or of all the consequences of the various battles. For me the movie was just fun entertainment, a space travel and alien life fantasy. Most of the fun is in seeing the various ways that Riddick, often seemingly imprisoned with zero hope of escape, actually escapes and gains the upper hand on the bad guys. Just a fun movie to view for light entertainment.