Director: David Twohy
Talent: Vin Diesel, Jordi Mollà, Katee Sackoff, Matt Nable
Release Date: 6th August 2013
Riddick is a dinosaur in the contemporary action movie landscape. 15–rated and with all that that implies: blood, gore, swearing and full frontal nudity, It’s a film that looks cheap, like it’s made for late-night TV viewing, like it’s made to be placed alongside Solo, Double Team and Under Siege at your local Chartbusters. Thing is, those other films aren’t very good; Riddick is good, damn good in all the right ways.
The film’s action sequences are filmed in a decidedly old-school manner: close and with numerous shot/reverse-shots of men shooting and stuff exploding. These gunfights are not great and speak to some of the dangers of adhering to a classic action aesthetic. Luckily, the screen fighting more than makes up for these weak gunfights as Diesel’s Riddick is a commands the screen and carries most of the film’s big set-pieces. The action is well considered and choreographed, and despite some ill-advised, extended slow-motion sequences, thrills throughout the running time.
Riddick may be a throwback — a fossil even — but it reminds us of better times and throws into stark relief the dull and ill-crafted action landscape that exists today.
