Just saw it - it wasnt terrible, but it was definitely pretty average.
The whole him awakening on a planet not knowing what happened deal was a bit lame as it was pretty much a cop-out way of not having to bring anything Necromonger back (which would mean a much bigger budget), where a nice deserty style planet can easily be made to look good in a patch of desert with a few CGI moons thrown in.
Thought the whole dog part was completely pointless IMO.
Also agree that the dialogue was terrible, almost as bad as the sterotypical/cliche merc crews. Thought it was amusing how fast John's went from cool calm collected leader under pressure, to yelling and cussing every two words.
Thing that got me though, was how bad the plot was in parts. Namely:
Spoiler: ShowAll the song and dance associated with the locker - and moreso the effort/lengths gone to add some suspense to the opening of the locker. You really wanted to know if it was empty or not - so they go through that rigmarole, and sure enough, they're still there....but, they then leave it open - not just unlocked (why bother having that lock and all the elaborate key bs if you're just going to then not use it) - but then it's not just unlocked, the doors are open! It's not just a transitionary thing either, as the other merc team who own that door lock are back outside again hanging out - wtfirl! On top of that, the locker is UNDER A SKYLIGHT - an open skylight no less! Are they even trying anymore?!
Then when they discovered Riddick's taken the illuminated xboxes (i like how in your typical sci-fi, something cant be a power module unless it glows) - Johns is all, "The guy hunts in the dark! We'll take him out in the daylight! Lock n load!" then proceeds to go straight into a dark cave to find him, in what would be the perfect killing environment.
So yeah - it lost me there. Also the shower scene - desperate to get at least some tits in the movie - and the fact that if there's a female character in the movie, she has to be tough, therefore a lesbian, and there has to be copious lines about fucking her. Sorry, but was the script written by a 15 year old? Seriously, characters of this quality are just retarded.
Also like how s
Spoiler: Showhe missed shooting the dog with the sniper rifle too
- the first guy missing it was pretty funny, and his comments afterwards, but her missing it? Just wreaked of convenient.
The whole thing of the new creatures was just lame. Way to copy the first movie. Also the way they were suddenly (and again conveniently) super aggressive, illustrated how badass they were by making a token kill or two, then when they go outside and are shooting at them, they're like a migrating herd of diplodocus and just running by.
Could also see the limited budget in a few obvious places - particularly those hover bike things, there was a scene or two of them (i think the first one of them setting out) which was like someone sitting in a horse saddle in front of a green screen.
I did like the environment in the rain though i will say. As they were riding out again in the dark, and the badass lightning storm in the background - i did enjoy that. Also like KFC said, there were a few really meaty deaths which saved it a bit.
The thing is with Riddick as a char, he is a bit of a meat-head, but i reckon he can get away with meat-headish one liners and the low voice monologue. But fuck, the rest has to be ok. He can be a good character, but it has to be part of a decent plot, or it's just your typical dumbass sylvester stallone style brand of dumbass character.
Even the plot - two merc groups (or hell even more would be good) converging on an out of the way resupply station, could have been really interesting if the characters had more depth and there were more things going on than the obvious. Hah even the end-
Spoiler: Showit was so damned obvious he would be rescued by John's ship - but the last scene, when theyr'e flying away and that other ship approaches - i thought it was the other merc leader and there was going to be a final bout of biffo! I had so little care/interest in that dudes character that i didnt even remember he'd died.
I liked Pitch Black, but i really liked Chronicles of Riddick. This was the weakest of the three by a big margin imo.
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