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A Pretty Glowing Review For RIDDICK!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
I’ve heard that the reports of “wholesale” cuts to the film were greatly exaggerated, and I hope I’ll get a look at it before it hits theaters in two weeks. Harry and I were the first champions of PITCH BLACK, and I’ve been a big supporter of David Twohy’s work overall. Very few people seem to genuinely love the genre film as much as he does, and he’s got a real knack for elevating B-material with wit and a good sense of action.
Check this reader’s reaction...
Hey Harry, Long Time Reader, First Time Writer.
A little while ago I was treated to a pretty top secret screening of The Chronicles of Riddick. I was ushered into a pretty crap theatre and we were seated, we (like usual) weren't told what film we were going to see until some guy (who looked like David Twohy) waltzed up to the front of the theatre and started talking. It was your normal blabbing bullshit where he gives you a quick introduction and shuttles along into telling us that we were the first crowd to see this specific version of the film.
Now, the special effects were basically finished, the music had some temp, and some seemed like original score, because I could've sworn I heard it in the trailer. I think the film clocked in at around two hours and ten minutes or so and thats without credits, which weren't attached anyway. So he finally gets down from speaking about his "labor of love" and lets the movie begin:
I've always been a rather big fan of David Twohy, I found that when he had the right means he could make a great film. I liked "The Arrival" because it was pretty intelligent, despite Charlie Sheen. "Pitch Black" wasn't a classic but it was pretty decent summer fanfare. And "Below" was a fairly gripping film, in my opinion. Although you can feel Twohy cutting back sometimes, almost like he pulls punches.
The Chronicles of Riddick is David Twohy throwing haymakers and you know what, he kicks the shit out of sci-fi. I've never been a fan of Vin Diesel, in fact I think he's a meat-head, but when I heard about this project it was Twohy that was shining through... I knew he'd deliver a great film. And you know what, gravel-head Diesel dissappears into Riddick and I was actually swept up into this film.
The story is your basic sci-fi stuff, prophecised man is unleashed upon bad guys and does what he has to do to become victorious. The twist is of course that Riddick is "another kind of evil" which is the Furyan race, and as you can tell by the name, most Furyan's aren't exactly happy campers, but they are a wickedly powerful bunch. And so continues to adventure. There is a scene on the prison planet that gave me sweaty palms, in which they have to outrun the sunlight from basically flash frying their asses. Thats a really great scene, although it did kind of float closely to The Mummy Returns.
One problem was a little sense of derived storytelling, usually Twohy is pretty much a free thinker, but you can see Hollywood trends sneaking in from time to time within the film, especially the rather overblown climax. Which wasn't entirely finished digitally, and I certain hope they change the temp music because it was royal shit. Sounded like something from Star Trek: Nemesis, it just didn't fit at all.
But really you can sense the beginnings of a really great trilogy here, which is another flaw that the film suffers from. It feels a little too much like a set up for a big cake, or a prelude to a royal hand job. You can sense that the mythology is going to explode, and right when its about to hit... credits roll. So it hurts, but I certainly hope the film does well enough to let them complete the trilogy, because this film definitely gives me hope.
Now for a really quick break-down of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
The Good: The special effects that were finished were damn near
photo-realistic, and they integrate well into the cinematography. They
don't lose the gritty feel that the film was obviously aiming for. Vin Diesel's Riddick character is actually much more intriguing and fleshed out this time around, apparently some flashbacks were cut out of the film (according to Twohy) but I think they might've helped our sympathies some. The action, while a little sparse, was great when it showed up, and Twohy has a real visual flare, which is something that I didn't expect. And Colm Feore and Judi Dench are what I would expect, fantastic. Feore is a little reserved here, but it works with his character. And Dench, again while sparse, is fantastic at laying out all the exposition without boring me to tears.
The Bad: Again, some of the music seemed really bad. I'm not sure who is doing the score, but he definitely has some work cut out for him. Because the music definitely needs some sincere tweaking. Also, Karl Urban is one of the lamest characters I've seen in a while, the part was well written but he just can't seem to get over posing and thinking about his hair. I don't know why he grated me so much, but maybe it was because I just didn't like his look.
The Ugly: The film could use a tad bit of tightening up here and there, some shots loom a little too long and some lines could use a bit of a hack job. Other than that, nothing much is very ugly.
Overall I think its probably one of the smartest sci-fi films to come out in quite some time, and I certainly hope it launches a new wave of great films with space-ships and planets and strange creatures and cool characters. Because Star Wars died quite a long time ago, if my watch is right. So I recommend it if you're a sci-fi fan, but if you're more into ridiculous action and heads blowing up, just see Van Helsing, because Riddick actually has a brain.
Thanks a lot, yours truly, Dave Burman.I love that Universal is trying to get into the big-budget SF game with RIDDICK and with next year’s SERENITY. These are potentially cool films with some great creative teams attached, and for fans of the genre, this is certainly a welcome thing.
"Moriarty" out.
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I think we'll be ok.
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Jun 01, 2004 5:20:42 AM CDT
The Good,the Bad, and the Ugly ? Ok. I'll go see it if you give
by el zar
Plenty of things to say about a movie... probably not too good. But i'll go see it anyway.
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Yeah, you're legends in your own minds, you were the first people in the *universe* to *ever* say *any* good words about the film! You're a real hero! Hell, you guys practically made it's success, right? Jesus Christ, don't knock yourself out patting yourself on the back there sparky. What a self congratulatory wank, eh? ************************************************************************ In other news, I'm equally looking forward to and dreading seeing Chronicles Of Riddick, and while I'd love for them to nail it with this film, gotta admit that right now I've got an uneasy feeling about it all.
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Whoa, can't wait to get my crank yanked by Vinnie! I hear he's realy good at giving head too. Not that there's anything wrong with gay action heros, mind you!
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... yeah, we pretty much were. The film was sitting on a shelf, the victim of an indifferent USA Films that inherited it from another company as part of a package of stuff, and when we saw it, there was no release date planned for it. We not only got active in talking about it online, but we booked it at BNAT before it was scheduled for any sort of release, and after that, USA Films finally got behind the picture and put it out. It went on to become their highest grossing film at the time. So... yeah... you can be an asshole about it if you want, but I'm damn glad we were able to help promote the film when it needed a hand, and you're not going to yell at me for stating a simple fact.
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And thinking...this Vin Diesal guy is cool..first with voice of Iron Giant and now this.
So what happened Vin..why did you become such an ass?
I hope this movie rocks though. -
I liked pitch black better when it was called aliens. Vin diesel is a pretty uninteresting actor, he has no presence and just broods alot. Him and jake gylenhal should have a brood off and the winner should get a real job.
And i dont care what it has to do with the story, vin diesel in those shades for riddick just reminds me of cheesy eighties movies. -
Get a grip, people-who-name-themselves-after-movie-characters-cooler-than-themselves. M said they "championed" Pitch Black -- as in, they went to bat for it -- not that Twohy owes them for all his success. As for Riddick... eh. Given how this summer is shaping up it'll probably be better than the competition, but what does that tell you?
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Jun 01, 2004 7:45:56 AM CDT
people who name themselves after movie characters cooler then th
by the data
You mean like moriarty?
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Can we have one article in this site that doesn't manage to bitch about Star Wars?
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I read the COR novelization a few weeks back and I can say I have got some pretty high hopes for this movie. It's got some really novel ideas going for it, and delivers the action on many levels: armies fighting armies, men vs. the environment, and some pretty cool one-on-one fight scenes. Riddick is a well-drawn out anti-hero in the book, and i hope that translates well onto the screen. He's an interesting choice for protagonist. Also, it's ok to compare COR to Star Wars b/c that's what Twohy and Diesel had in mind. I'm thinking that COR is going to appeal the most to people who felt disappointed in the silliness and paper-thin plots of the SW prequels. COR is more adult fare, definately not written for kids. Lose your preconceptions about this one--hell, just be happy that big-budget sci-fi films are back where they should be: in outer space!-- not swinging around NYC or kung-fu farting in virtual realities.
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Hate the prequels do your heart's desire, but the plots are many times more complex than the other three Star Wars films, and just about anything released in May over the last twenty years.
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not Matrix-like expectations or anything(I try not to do that anymore), but really it's the only movie I'm really looking forward to this summer. When Pitch Black came out, Vin Diesel(despite what you guys think of him) was poised to make some really cool movies, what with Saving Private Ryan, and Iron Giant under his belt(I haven't seen Boiler Room, any good?). The Riddick character was great, and the movie was suprisingly good. Then he went on to make shit after shit(don't get me started on XXX), with the best of his post-Pitch Black movies being Knockaround Guys(which wasn't great but easily worth a rental) Twohy went on to make Below, which was better in every respect than Pitch Black(except for maybe badassedness. it's not a word, so sue me). I'm just ready to see a movie where Twohy has a big budget and Vin has his best character. The only thing that worries me is the PG-13 rating, which might mean Riddick is not so much the mean motherfucker in this film. That was one of the best aspects of Pitch Black, even towards the end you're not quite sure if he's "good" or not.
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Jun 01, 2004 8:18:56 PM CDT
Oh my god! Garfield and now this! Summer of 2004 will be fucking
by comicbookgeek77
This movie is going to be pretty damm good. Pitch Black rocked, Vin Diesel rocks when he plays this character. Oh, I also heard from an unidentified, very reliable source that Arnold has a cameo in this one, be prepared to have your salads tossed gentlemen.
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"Hate the prequels do your heart's desire, but the plots are many times more complex than the other three Star Wars films."
You can make a case for this. But they're complex in an uninteresting, implausible and unenjoyable way. They're complex in the way a 12 year old's stories are complex, where lots of things happen unexpectedly, but for no good reason other than something asserted on the fly with no ring of elegance or plausibility. Complexity done well should be manageable, and tie together nicely. Plot arcs should interweave, revelations should be surprising and disorientating but actually serve to reduce the complexity of the enigma. In the two SW prequels so far, the "complexity" is of the "God works in mysterious ways" type, where every action, no matter how stupid it seems, can (so it seems to me) be ascribed to the ingenious machinations of Palpatine. Man, that guy is a fucking maestro. First of all he anticipates that the two Jedi whose death he has ordered (and whose escape angers him) will escape with the Queen whose return he then demands (angrily). Then he anticipates that they will escape the blockade by the skin of their teeth rather than be blown to atoms, and make an emergency stop on Tatooine. (At least, I presume he anticipates this if Anakin was a key to his plans.) Then after dispatching Darth Maul to intercept the Jedi, he anticipates that they will escape from his trained warrior/assassin and make it to Coruscant. So after all his apparent efforts at stopping their progress, she, errr, proves to be a pivotal part of his plan to become chancellor. Okay, what the fuck? Did he want her there or not? There seem to be two possibilities:
a) He didn't want her there, but he simply thinks quickly on his feet. In other words, he's a bad planner (or really unlucky) but a great improviser.
b) He really did want her there. And he is the ultimate master of anticipation; when it looks like he's doing his damndest to kill you, he actually wants you to escape! In fact, if you defeated an army of his troops, got past his best bodyguards and defeated him in one-on-one combat, standing over him with a lightsaber, it would turn out that this was *exactly* where he wanted you! Rather than being a brilliant screen nemesis, this would make him one of the most tedious villains of all time, one who renders every effort of our heroes pointless, as all their feats of skill and daring, rather than being cheered, should in fact make us cringe, knowing that they're always playing into his hands.
I have this horrible feeling that (b) is intended to be the case. And if you think this will make for some kind of incredible punchline to the joke of the prequel trilogy, you have my sympathy. -
Jun 01, 2004 9:51:26 PM CDT
It's probably just me, but out of all the movies coming out this
by anlashok
Of course, I've always been a little strange..
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Jun 01, 2004 9:58:56 PM CDT
"...some guy (who looked like David Twohy)..." Man, you just ma
by lance rock
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Jun 02, 2004 12:45:16 AM CDT
What are you people talking about?! This thing looks like ass.
by boogerthefirst
I'm a fan of pitch black. It was a great movie, but please tell me you are all plants or else my faith in movie go'ers will cease to be. Pitch Black had Riddick as a primal brute who would faster kill you then look at you. He had no measure for human life but his own and through the course of the movie is changed. THATS GOOD FILM MAKING. Now hes a Furyan warrior who has to fight necromongers because they are nazi assholes. Add in the shity acting and crappy wire work in the trailers and you get a steamy pile of shitty sequal that shoulda just fucking left well enough alone.
Fuck this movie. Fuck the sequals. I'm not tainting the goodness of the first one... I'll watch that 3 times and be much more satisfied. -
God, will anyone drop us any info as to why this is intelligent? All I could gather is how generic it gets, and how it could be seen to steal from the Mummy. Fantastic. Jesus fucking christ.
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pitch black did not exactly have the thickest plot and most ornate charcter development -- but it still worked. colm feore is a great actor, so i cannot imagine this movie entirely missing the mark unless there are surf boards or car chases.
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Nexus - Boiler Room is worth the rental. One of only two Giovanni Ribisi performances I have liked (with Saving Private Ryan being the other). The movie is reminiscent of both Glengarry Glenn Ross and Wall Street; not as good as either, but not bad either. CerriStag - yours was one of the best, most reasoned posts on the Star Wars prequels that I have ever read in the Talkbacks. Cheers.
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To the poster who wondered about Palpatine's Master Plan, I've always looked at it like he did indeed intend to kill the Queen, and use the ensuing chaos to engender sympathy for himself and his political causes. To that end he hoped either the Nemodian invasion or his assassin would do the trick. When it didn't, he improvised. His plea for Amidala to remain behind was acted as though it was feigned. When she survived, she made just as good a poster child for the invasion as she would have a martyr, and so he manipulated her that way. Remember when Sidious said, "We can use this to our advantage?" Again thinking on his feet....the Queen was returning home with her Jedi charges...their purpose served, why not kill them?-------------And Anakin was not a part of his plan from day one....he only found out he existed after he played the part of hero during the space battle. An 8-year old who can fly a ship and destroy a blockade ship? HERE's my pupil! And so it went. Actually, given that sequels are usually brain-dead affairs, I'm surprised at how much story IS in the prequels. You may not like it, but at least someone is putting in an effort to do some storytelling.
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Jun 02, 2004 12:25:35 PM CDT
And thus, iTyler, you have completely renewed Hollywood exec fai
by the killer-goat
Your statements only serve to reinforce the type of mentality those goons rely on to shit out countless flops and braindead waste just by adding some star power names, and you are exactly the type of person they love to forcefeed it to on an annual basis. Be proud.
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I love when a reviewer shoots themself in the foot by saying something like "Star Wars sucks" or "I didn't understand The Matrix movies," thereby destroying any credibility that they may have hoped for. He is obviously just another illiterate fanboy jackass who's too dense to realize greatness when he sees it. Wonder of wonders that he wound up at AICN. I'll probably see Riddick, even though it has very high potential for suckage.
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If you read the novelization you would know he is the same charcter. Also Riddick was always someone who looked out for himself not a mass murderer. If you got in his way he would kill you but not for the hell of it. On a side note I like the ending alot and it leads to many diffrent ways the story can go in the sequal.
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I wouldnt go far tos ay it is an inteligent movie after reading the book. I would say that it is not unconentinal alot like how the first movie was. You think you can plot out what is gonna hwppen but from time to time you go oh I wasnt expecting that.
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Your panties got in such a bunch that your screen name was inspired by me! That's great. Never happened before, but I love it. You're obviously a homophobe... Scared of the way you really feel about your fellow men? Probably. Meesa tinks yousa be protestin' too mooey mooey. Once again for the slow learners: Star Wars rules. The Matrix rules. Pitch Black was a marginally watchable B movie. The sequel will, most likely, suck. Deal with it.
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Riddick, like Star Wars has nothing to do with proper SF. It's all at bunch of dressed up fantasy. Real serious SF should be based on facts, of cause not already excisting inventions, but posibilities. Lightsabers, mystic forces of good and evil, chosen one stories... It's just another LOTR rip-off. What people call SF is nothing more than updated legends. The last good SF on film was Blade Runner and before that Solaris. Not even the alien films or Matrix, which both are either Action or Horror set in a non to realistic future.
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is back to be wrong some more! Here's a spoiler for you: Read my talkback name in a mirror and you'll see your destiny. Star Wars reference? Where? Do you EVER get tired of being totally fucking wrong all the time? You're an asshole and everybody here knows it. Deal with that, you ignorant bitch.
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Just thought I'd add that one in there... y'know, for Stupid Stevie's sake.
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Plant! sorry, had to do it.
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some people thought The Matrix was gonna suck because Keanu says "Whoah" in the trailer?
If this website had existed back in the day, people would have been shitting all over Blade Runner, Star Wars and Raiders Of The Lost Ark. -
pitch black was good. hope this will be too. btw, if star wars is so awful howcome noone can go 5 seconds without bringing it up.
SW owns you all. -
All these movies of late are about Metrosexual outfits like The Matrix, but Vin Disel brings back the Gearhead look of tank top or t-shirt and worn jeans. Thats a man's look. -
MrMannon is right. COR isn't really science fiction. It is much more in keeping with space opera stuff of the 40s and 50s, where intergalactic settings became the backdrops for the re-telling of ancient mythos and their archetypal themes. Most pulp fantasy of the time did the same thing, and I think the comparison is a good one. So COR isn't exactly science fiction, because its plot doesn't hinge upon science--its much more character oriented. That being said, modern SF writers and editors have come to unite the social sciences as well as the hard sciences under the banner of SF. The COR novelization had a lot of sociological stuff going on with a society of zealots replacing the standard 'slimy alien' motif (refreshing), as well as some fairly intricate psychological motivations for the characters. COR also touched upon some pretty cool theological stuff. Again, I hope these themes translate well into the film!
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No, seriously! After all the liquid shit poured over this latest "film" with bouncer "Diesel", I'm entitled to suspect ulterior motives in a positive review of something that looks like Van Helsing in space.
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Does any one else like Pickles?
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Im a cinema traditionalist. I dont believe in order to enjoy a sci-fi movie I have to read 200 books (StarWars), buy the game (Matrix), collect the secret decoder ring, watch the movie in reverse while listening to dark side of the moon. =P As much as I would love to do all these things, I simply dont have the time. Thats why I like movies, 2 hour blocks of entertainment I can squeeze into my schedule combined with being a social event I can goto with my friends.
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Boogerthefirst it took me all of six hours to read, and I wasnt saying you need to read it just that you should check what you say before shooting from the hip about how they changed the charcter.On another note Morartiy posted over at chud that he loved the movie and said he will have a review up by friday.
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What I am saying is that the character I watched in PB is different then the one in CoR. What once was a relatable character, is now an alien with rage issues. Regaurdless of what a novel says, petty changes like this is what makes sequals gay. I'll be the first person to admit I am wrong, unlike some of the douche bags on this website. Also: help me decide on a bet... I need a movie worse then 'Glitter'. My friend has to keep it in his dvd collection forever because he bet xXx was going to be good... I cant figure out something worse then Glitter. Movies weve come up with and rejected: You got Served , from justin to kelly, gigli, honey, battlefield earth, rollerball, crossroads. any suggestions?
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Any person with an AVERAGE amount of brain cells has only to look at the original trailer and REALIZE that this movie is a PIECE OF SHITE!!!!!!!!!!!
This movie is a conglameration of Vin Diesel poses and Thandie Newton costumes. JUST SAD!!!!!! -
My faith has been restored that I'm retarded!!! David Twohy has written a script that I can spank to!!!! Yeee hawww!!!!!!!!!
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