Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 59% (Critics) / 75% (Audience)
Directed By: David Twohy
Written By: David Twohy
Starring: Vin Diesel, Matt Nable, Katee Sackhoff, Dave Bautista and Karl Urban
Studio: Universal

Synopsis: Left for dead on a sun-scorched planet, Riddick finds himself up against an alien race of predators. Activating an emergency beacon alerts two ships: one carrying a new breed of mercenary, the other captained by a man from Riddick’s past. – (Source)

The Good:
I like Vin Diesel as an actor but I especially like him as the character of Riddick. Skip Xander Cage from XXX and Dom Torretto from the FAST & FURIOUS franchise, for my money there is no better role for Diesel than Riddick and no other character that he seems quite as comfortable playing. For this movie we also got to see a bit of a different side to Riddick in that the character was a bit world weary and questioning his place in the universe which was a good touch for the character as far as development goes. Plus we got an extended focus on Riddick and his pet dog creature that ended up being way more enjoyable than it had any right to be.
I also liked that the film didn’t gloss over all of the Necromonger nonsense from THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK movie. While that film was not a favorite of mine it was a part of the mythology for the character and I appreciated that it remained a through line leading us to the events in this film. Plus we got to see Karl urban in a brief return to his role as the duplicitous Vaako.
And Katee Sackhoff basically played a slightly off-kilter version of Starbuck from BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and that was not a bad thing since I love Ms Sackhoff and tend to enjoy her in almost anything.

The Bad:
It would have been nice if the supporting cast of this film were as strong as the supporting cast of PITCH BLACK and if the film spent more time giving us a PITCH BLACK redux.
I also wasn’t that big a fan of the design for the main monsters in this film. they looked kinda goofy.

The Ugly:
I still can’t get over the fact that this characters full name is Richard B. Riddick. For such a cool character that is a really awful name.

Final Verdict: RIDDICK is a fun entry into what will hopefully be the continuation of a character and universe with a lot of untapped potential. The movie drags a bit in spots and the bulk of the supporting cast is pretty blah but Vin Diesel more than carries the weight of the film on his shoulders and the FX and action is very well done.

Grade: B