The Chronicles of Riddick is supposed to be the sequel to Pitch Black, both written by David Twohy. Honestly, I don't know if it matters because if you watch them both, it's not readily apparent. In fact, aside from having Vin Diesel as as a guy with glowing eyes, they seem to have pretty much nothing in common.

Having said that, I think that Chronicles stands on it's own as a decent science-fiction movie. The basic plot could be ripped out of Star Trek. There is a militaristic race of pseudo-humans whose entire goal in life is to covert or destroy all of mankind. The only real difference with this race, the Necromongers, is that they are entirely human and not cyborg. They still embody the “obedience without question” as Karl Urban's character, Vakko purports.

Of course, Vin Diesel's character, Riddick, is all the stands in the way of this immensely powerful race because he is from a race that “bows to no man,” the Furions. Cool name, if nothing else. In Riddick's quest to stop the Necromongers he is abducted by mercenaries and goes to a prison planet who one of the mercs sums up as, “If I owned Hell and this place, I'd rent this place out and stay in Hell.” Although the plot makes moderate sense, the entire movie Riddick isn't actually out to stop the Necromongers, but to save his friend, Jack/Kyra (Alexa Davalos).

Through this somewhat predictable plot the sets are amazing. We see Riddick on three planets throughout the course of the movie and each has an immensely detailed set. The merging of set with computer generated background is done very well. Which leads to my next point, the special effects in this movie are probably the best thing about it. They are spread liberally throughout the movie, such as when the Necromonger fleets attack or when the sun on the prison-planet torches everything in sight.

The costumes for the Necromongers were also well done, I felt. The entire army consists of nameless soldiers who do a lot of fighting and dying and look darn good doing it. The standard issue soldier wears a fair amount of armor and looks intimidating, although evidently fights poorly against Riddick.

As far as acting was concerned, Vin Diesel does a passable job half of the time, doesn't need to act most of the other time, and occasionally has horrible Arnold like lines. For instance, when he smells the beautiful Necromonger woman, Dame Vakko (Thandie Newton) his horrible line is, “It's been a long time since I smelled beautiful.” Gag.

The rest of the supporting cast did a good job for the most part. Karl Urban's Vakko deserved mention. Vakko is the second in line for leader of the Necromongers throughout the movie and plays a halfway likeable character very well. I've neve seen Urban in anything else, but I felt he added a lot to this movie in a supporting role. Also of note was Linus Roache, and likewise unknown to me. He plays “the Purifier” whose function it is to convert the conquered races. In the end, you also feel that he was a decent person at one point too.

In the end, I'd say Chronicles was a decent science fiction movie. If one has no interest in science fiction, I doubt they'd find this very entertaining. I myself only have a passing interest in sci-fi and I found it amusing. It's also worth mentioning that just because one didn't like Pitch Black doesn't mean they might not like Chronicles. It's a far more exciting movie, and as I said before, bears no resemblance to it's precursor.

Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older