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	The Chronicles Of Riddick
	David Twohy Vin Diesel, Colm Feore, Thandie Newton, Judi Dench, Karl Urban, Alexa Davalos, Linus Roache, Yorick van Wageningen, Nick Chinlund, Keith David 2004		Less a sequel and more a trial balloon for a series, the aspiring galactic epic "The Chronicles of Riddick" features the same mercenary anti-hero played by Vin Diesel in the cool sci-fi thriller "Pitch Black." But the follow-up seems to exist independent of its predecessor and fails to match up. Diesel is back as the terse, near-indestructible Riddick, a cold-hearted escaped convict with enhanced eyes that see in the dark. There are references to the first film, and other returning characters; then, the similarities end. In "Pitch Black," Riddick grudgingly saves people trapped on a hostile planet in a variation on the haunted-house genre, whereas "The Chronicles" suggests that the brute is a figure of cosmic import. A messianic leader wants to enslave the universe; only Riddick stands in his way. David Twohy, who directed "Pitch Black," is director and screenwriter of the ambitious follow-up. He's trying to create a space opera like "Dune." Even the pervasive computer-generated action sequences and environments of "The Chronicles" recall the alien grandeur of "Dune." If Riddick wasn't so shallow and the dialogue wasn't so pulpy, the film might've gone beyond the transient zap of high-tech sense-barrage. The ending implies more to come; it's hard to care. Bonus: The clash of acting styles — Diesel's grunt vs. the classical elocution of Judi Dench as a seer — is snicker-worthy.


	Wednesday, December 18, 2024





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