Pitch Black vs Chronicles of Riddick
Pitch Black was the original movie. Chronicles of Riddick was the sequel.
I would highly recommend Pitch Black if you're in the mood for it. It's a combination Alien meets Asimov's "Nightfall" scifi thriller/horror. Nothing too original, lots taken from other sources, but the characters and their interactions are interesting and it kept me interest all the way though the end. The main character, Riddick, is very interesting in an "I'm a badass" kind of way. He's a classic villlain with a streak of humanity.
Enter the sequel: "Chronicles of Riddick"
I wasn't expecting much, and I got much less. This was AWFUL! One of the worst movies I've ever seen! Talk about a bunch of ideas that are all crammed in the same movie with none of them going anywhere. It couldn't decide if it was fantasy, or science fiction, or both, and wound up splattered between all of those. All this movie suceeded in doing was ruining a good character, Riddick. This movie should be destroyed.
Re:Pitch Black vs Chronicles of Riddick
Agreed. I loved Pitch Black, the simple story and the atmosphere and the characters, especially Riddick the anti-hero. It's hard to get people to root for a sociopathic murderer but they did. Riddick became a cult hero.
So naturally they made a sequel and naturally they made him less of an anti-hero to appeal to more people (and get a PG rating). And it didn't work. They lost the essence of the character. Riddick is a BAD GUY. You aren't supposed to like him.
The premise had promise. RIddick is apathetic toward humanity but saves us anyway. I just didn't find it entirely convincing change of character.
I thought the movie was okay. Like you said, a hodge-podge of sf stuff. Cool effects though. If it wasn't a sequel people probably would have been okay with it.
I did love the ending. Twisted and perfect. RIddick wins but then he gets something that he doesn't really want (and neither do we).
I'm not a complete idiot -- some parts are missing.
Agreed
Agreed about the ending. I liked what happend, but the path to that ending was trite and meaningless and filled with one awful character cliche after another. Even if Chronicles had not been a sequel, for me, it still would have been a bad movie, though perhaps, more stomachable.
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Life is a lot like caving: Most of the time you grope around in the dark.
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