The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)

I found the graphics, style and the story line of this 3rd film of the series to be quite good, and yet there's something missing here. I don't know if it was the wooden performances of Karl Urban and Thadie Newton as Lord and Lady Vaako, or the concept that a race of warriors dabbles in the dark arts and concocts a religion that glorifies death as a gateway to achieving godhood - the combination of warrior and religion begetting planetary genocide. On the surface it seems preposterous, but upon further review, I guess 77 virgins makes this seem not quite as far fetched. When I first saw Riddick as a theatrical release I had no back story about him, having not seen the first two films. Having rectified the situation upon this viewing I was further drawn into this rather epic space opera and in particular Riddick's relationship with the girl formerly known as Jack. Riddick is portrayed as a loner who lives by the creed "take care of yourself - nothing or no-one else matters"... but in the Director's cut, you can see that Riddick is far more than a simple thug (that he is the dark avenger of a race wiped out by the Necromongers), and that, while supposedly amoral, is in fact caring and committed to the girl in his own fashion. The story takes us on a wild journey, filled with action and bizarre planets and set pieces. This uber universe sits uneasily on the fence between humanistic grit and foibles and grand vistas and concepts. Somehow, it manages to entertain, and yet fails to truly enlighten or amaze, too often falling into cartoonish conventions and motivations. In the end, I enjoyed the film more upon this viewing (having the background of the prior two films) than when I first viewed it - and really, if you compare this to several later "grand epic" type films like Clash of The Titans, this comes out head and shoulders above them.