(no subject)

[cabbitzilla]

The Chronicles of Riddick

Hrm. General stuff'll go here; spoilers behind the cut. You've been warned.

Decent plot, a bit of tweaking done to prior information. Vin looks buff and yummy in ways only a very few can manage. The camera work is HIGHLY distracting in places; if you've got lag times for focus or wear glasses with any kind of prism effect you'll have issues in those sequences. Or do what I did and stare intently at it and give yourself a headache. Ah, Vin, the things I do for you.

It's not a bad film, it just really could've been much more. I liked it, yes... though I fear there's another film in the works that'll further dilute things.


Before I start ripping holes, I will plainly and bluntly state that I LIKE the movie. But I tend to be a bit particular about things. Again, you've been warned. That's three; keep reading and you're on your own, bucko.

Okay, lets talk about scriptwriting for a few minutes, okay?

• You're basing this on an established character, so there's some information out there already... and that's not counting the fan speculation that's been going on for the last four years. So explain why that already-known-info is tossed aside in favor of a couple of disposable lines of dialogue?
• Okay, so the 'lone survivor' theory is what you want. Fine, it's not a huge change, and maybe it'll add a bit of mystique to a character that's already got a good number for fangirls and fanbois drooling. Great. Sole survivor from a race hunted to extinction via the Biblical-approved (yes, that's sarcasm, keep moving) method of fragging all the male children. It's a prophecy, you see. Someone from this strain of humanity is going to shit-can the big bad Lord Marshal.... yeah. So tell me why the Lord Marshal, driven to killing children by his fear of this foretold assassin, has another survivor of this race working as a trusted lieutenant... his chief Purifier. Purifier seems to be a type of loyalty police, keeping underlings from straying from approved thought or doctrine... and this particular Purifier is trusted to act as a solo agent, with information not given to the command staff. So tell me again about that paranoia over a foretelling? Yeah. Just a bit sloppy, boys, but you probably weren't expecting a picky bitch like me to go to your movie anyway.
• So... now you have two men who survived. You find this out, and then forty-five seconds later the second one commits suicide. Without giving this frustrated fan ANY further information on this near-mythical people. That... would be like making an entire movie about going to study the apes in the jungle, building it up for two thirds of the movie... and then watching the last living ape fling itself off a cliff to its death. Not cool, guys, not at all. Yes, I see that you've left it open for another film, but that doesn't help me much NOW, now does it?

Okay, so let's do the ending, shall we?

• Yes, I know you've probably already got another Riddick movie planned. And I know that you know that, like a good little junkie in need of a fix, I'll find a way to see IT too. But can we please be a little less blatant about it?
• It's not even a particularly tasty opening, either. Kyra/Jack is dead, and she was about the only person alive that was even partially trusted: Richard B. Riddick is now completely alone. His people are gone, his friends are gone, and even the last of his enemies lie at his feet with dagger snapped off in his brain. Now what? Well, the options aren't very appealing:
  • Reanimate Kyra with the Necromonger tech. A great reward for the friend that gave her life saving your ass.
  • Take the suddenly loyal army of Necromongers and ... conquer? Riddick's a loner. He'd be more likely to order the troops in one direction and then go the other way himself.
  • Put 'em to work restoring the worlds they've raped? Can you see these half-undead brutes planting daisies?
  • Dismantle the forces? Uh huh. Try and imagine what happens when you look at several million mercenaries and say "Job's over. Go home. Oh, wait, we nuked your home, didn't we? Sorry. Well, see ya!".
• And what about Vaako? You already /know/ he's a weasel. His wife/consort/fuckbuddy has entirely too much taste for power, and he's wrapped around her finger. And he's none too bright: sent to kill a man, he knocks him down and then walks away expecting him to die neatly behind him. Nope. Sorry. Dead is dead, and 'still breathing' means you don't walk away. You either kill him with your own hands and WATCH him die, or you have someone bring you his head -and- heart. And no, sometimes I'm really not a nice person. It has to do with a work ethic and the completion of a job. So this dude that was inept enough to not kill Riddick, and then was inept enough to not kill the Lord Marshal in front of Riddick, now thinks he can pledge loyalty? Oh, please.

Bits along the way (no, I'm not done yet).

• Okay, so who are these Necromonger folk anyway? A reference is made to -other- Lord Marshals, so they've obviously been around for some time. Where're they from? Who were the other Lord Marshals? Did they -all- have this Crusade mentality going, or is it just the paranoiac running the show now?
• Several references are made to 'half undead' existance, and there're those lovely skull-faced scanner critters. How? When? Where? They're just there, with no information or explanation. I'd REALLY like to know how someone on the surface of a planet that's just been invaded and still has metric tons of stuff sifting down out of the atmosphere can see into space... clearly enough to see an ion trail and identify it as a ship that recently departed.
• I'm a geek, God dammit. Don't show me fifty bazillion gadgets and not give me info/background/details/schematics on ANY of them. Lots of really fascinating tech... but visually it's apparent that a good bit of it is simply 'hey, this'll look good here' work.
• Secondary characters appear, disappear, and reappear for little to no reason. The holy man's wife and daughter pop in and out. The daughter (an adorable girl) has what looks like a poignant moment when she discovers her father's necklace looped over the remains of their front door... and nothing else is done with it. The movie is littered with almost-moments like this. Either give me a real hook, or trim it out and give time where it's needed to other elements.
• After breaching the planetary defenses in a rush with minimal casualties, a ship that looks like maybe a cutter class is 'shot down' with a man portable rocket launcher. Err... yeah. Right. And since it was moving in a straight line, of COURSE it's going to tumble to the left and not harm Riddick. *cough*

Yes, I liked the movie. If I didn't like it, I wouldn't have gone to this much trouble, okay? I just wish they'd taken it seriously. Between plot holes and the flicker/move camera style in the fight scenes, I have a headache from hell. *sigh* Anyway, I need to go to the store. Cheers.

Comments

[westonian.livejournal.com]

I love how you dissected the movie. My commentary on your commentary:

The ending kinda reminded me of Conan the Barbarian. Seriously. He's got the brooding-on-the-throne bit down pat.

"Dick B. Riddick?"

The faces on the ships: Why? Impressive, yes, but that's gotta take up a lot of space and add a bit of mass. Maybe those pretty smog-breathing engines have juice to spare.

Don't forget the weird mind-reading critters. What the heck were they?