.: Roberts' Reviews - Movie Reviews :.

Can a movie that is all style and no substance get a recommendation in a review? That is the question I had to pose to myself after screening the new Vin Diesel film, The Chronicles of Riddick. But before I get around to trying to answer my own question, let's first try and determine how this movie ever came to maturity in the first place.

Back in 2000, writer/director David Twohy introduced us to the character of Richard B. Riddick. He was a criminal, a murderer and was being transferred to a new holding facility. The ship they were traveling however crashed on a distant planet, and the crew had to look to the skills of their prisoner for help (his eyes had been sanded down allowing him to see in the dark) as creatures began to feast on their presence. Three survived.

Skip ahead to 2004, and Twohy and Diesel are back for The Chronicles of Riddick which continue the adventures of the title character as he battles with a warlord that devours worlds and turns cultures into mindless warriors with allegiance only to him. Riddick gets caught in a battle between the army's leader, Lord Marshall and his own agenda while the fate of a world and the people Riddick cares for hangs in the balance. Will Riddick be able to defeat the evil Lord Marshall and free the people on alien worlds of the terror forthcoming? Will Riddick be able to find and reconcile with the girl (Jack) he saved in Pitch Black? And can Riddick free himself of the bounty put on his head and return from a life in exile? The answers my friends can be found neatly encompassed in the 2-hour running time of the sequel that leaves the characters future wide open for a third.

When I first heard that there was going to be a sequel with the Pitch Black character I had to wonder why. I was unaware of any cult following or icon status of the Riddick persona. So, if the public is not demanding a sequel, then why would the director and star return for another engagement? The answer became pretty clear early on in the film as The Chronicles of Riddick proved to have more substance than its predecessor. Whereas the first film was a cheap thriller that had but one real scene that gripped audiences in the trailer, Chronicles has more of a story, and its supporting cast which includes Judi Dench who was put to good use to help develop the overall plot.

However, let's not put this film in our Top 100 Sci-Movies of all time just yet. There is one glaring issue with Chronicles and that is with Mr. Diesel himself. His opening lines to a mercenary trying to collect a bounty was an inferior written scene and this being our first exposure to Riddick, I spent the next 15 minutes trying to forget how corny and poorly the lines were delivered. And Twohy and Diesel seem happy to recapture to unglory years of the 80's by having their star ramble off one liners and grunts that would make Stallone look like a Shakespearean actor. Vin Diesel can fight, but his acting ability is exactly put to the test here.

I would also take issue with the villain in the film played with ease by Colm Feore. Too much ease, actually. We don't really come to hate or fully understand Lord Marshall, and it wouldn't have taken more than a scene or too extra to help relay his motivation. A cross between Hitler and George Bush, Lord Marshall was just a pawn for the Riddick characters screen time and without a villain to really despise, the film lacked the stand up and cheer for the hero that could have resulted.

But then comes the boom in the form of the films effects and design. With its ships of mass-destruction and the sun melting burning through a planets surface, the $100 plus budget was put to good use. The interior of the mother ship was both interesting and creative in its design and that was a refreshing twist from the steel and metal ships we normally encounter in films of this genre.

Pitch Black earned less than $50 million at the box office, so it took some balls for Universal Studio's to fork over $120 for a sequel. But now that it is over, I'm kinda glad they did. If in the third film, we can continue on its upward spiral of improvement for each film, we may get something of real substance in another few years.

So now to answer the question that I put forth at the beginning. Can a movie that is all style and no substance get a recommendation in a review? I guess the answer is 'sort of'.