Riddick
2013 · Directed by David Twohy
Original language: English
- science fiction
- action
- thriller
The story
Betrayed by his own kind and left for dead on a desolate planet, Riddick fights for survival against alien predators and becomes more powerful and dangerous than ever before. Soon bounty hunters from throughout the galaxy descend on Riddick only to find themselves pawns in his greater scheme for revenge. With his enemies right where he wants them, Riddick unleashes a vicious attack of vengeance before returning to his home planet of Furya to save it from destruction.
What it’s like
Harsh, sun-bleached desert light gives way to rain-slick night and the cold blue glow of spaceship interiors, with the camera often low and close on a single hard face. The palette swings between burnt orange dust and gunmetal shadow, and the planet's landscapes feel hot, dry and hostile, all cracked earth, bare rock and drifting sand. Grain is clean and digital, the handheld work is jittery in the fights, and the night-vision and thermal sequences give the dark a flat, eerie texture. Sound is heavy and industrial: low drones, metallic clangs, snarling creature noise and a pounding percussive score that spikes during combat and drops into near silence between set pieces. Its vibe is grim, bruised and pulpy, a loud, bleak revenge thriller best suited to a late-night watch with a bold appetite for action. Pacing is lean and muscular, with long stretches of survival punctuated by explosive set pieces. The emotional register is hard and wry rather than tender, and its central arc follows a solitary fugitive who trusts almost no one yet begins to bend toward loyalty. The violence is frequent and graphic, with brutal hand-to-hand fights, gunfire, blood and creature mauling, plus some crude profanity and menace, but little sexual content. It suits viewers who want relentless, gritty sci-fi action and a lone antihero's vengeance, not anything gentle.
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