The Chronicles of Riddick

A fugitive (Vin Diesel) who can see in the dark battles an invading alien armada.

The Chronicles of Riddick is a great example of how to kill a franchise. Similar to how Warner Brothers killed the Batman franchise, the filmmakers behind The Chronicles of Riddick felt they had to out-do the previous movie in every way. Except story.

The first movie had a much lower-budget and thus relied more on the characters to entertain the audience, which is how the Vin Diesel’s Riddick character connected with audiences in the first place.

Now the budget is considerably larger and we’re treated to essentially two movies: the first a classic “chosen one” tale where Diesel is revealed to be the only man in capable of beating an invading armada and saving the universe, and the second is a prison escape movie. The filmmakers seem much more comfortable with the second movie, as these sequences work far better than anything else, but in both Vin Diesel is lost amid tons of CGI. Compound that with a script full of gaping plot holes and little to no characterization, and this one to avoid.

Further, all the aforementioned plot pads the running time to an unforgivable 115 minutes. At the 90 minute mark you’re ready for this ride to be over and the last 25 minutes are almost frustrating.