-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Riddick Sucks thread
- Thread starter FoneBone
- Start date
- Status
Stuggernaut
Grandma's Chippy
NopePhoenix said:Oh God, please tell me you're joking with that smiley
Stuggernaut
Grandma's Chippy
Would one of the "haters" please explain what you hated about the movie...
Saying "I hated it, it was stupid" just doesn't say much.
Same as saying I liked it doesn't say why either.
And why do people (especially around these boards it seems) love to fling around that "turn of your brain" stuff....it's not a educational film, it's a movie
Oh, and just so I don't come off as the hypocrite...
I liked it because....
Things I didn't like...
Saying "I hated it, it was stupid" just doesn't say much.
Same as saying I liked it doesn't say why either.
And why do people (especially around these boards it seems) love to fling around that "turn of your brain" stuff....it's not a educational film, it's a movie
Oh, and just so I don't come off as the hypocrite...
I liked it because....
- They didn't cling too much to Pitch Black so as to ruin it
- The story, while a bit exagerated, fit well with the plot
- Riddick was an extreme badass
- The Necros weren't perfect in battle (a lot died) they just outnumbered and had technology
- That Riddick didn't kill the main bad guy alone...that would have been too much
- That ALL the good guys didn't live
- The Conan is king scene at the end
- The story, while a bit exagerated, fit well with the plot
- Riddick was an extreme badass
- The Necros weren't perfect in battle (a lot died) they just outnumbered and had technology
- That Riddick didn't kill the main bad guy alone...that would have been too much
- That ALL the good guys didn't live
- The Conan is king scene at the end
Things I didn't like...
- The CG on the dogs was a little ...off
- The Cremetoria name for the "hot" planet, cheesy
- That "Jack" died and may not be in the sequels...she was hot
- The close up fighting scenes were sometimes hard to follow
- The Cremetoria name for the "hot" planet, cheesy
- That "Jack" died and may not be in the sequels...she was hot
- The close up fighting scenes were sometimes hard to follow
Personally I enjoyed the hell out of it. I have much the same complaints as many of the others.. the shaky cam usage and the crematoria fight were just SHIT, no other way to put it.
And there were some fairly laughable lines.
However, the good far outweighed the bad. Riddick was all kinds of badass
The sets, the scenery, the characters, the mythos. They were all really good, and I can't wait for more.
And there were some fairly laughable lines.
However, the good far outweighed the bad. Riddick was all kinds of badass
"It's a teacup"
"what?"
"It's tea. I'm going to kill you with my teacup"
"what?"
"It's tea. I'm going to kill you with my teacup"
The sets, the scenery, the characters, the mythos. They were all really good, and I can't wait for more.
Prince of Space
Banned
Just got back. Ugh, terrible waste of film this was. xXx in space.
Why didn't I like it? Well:
- It seems no one (not even Judi Dench, who is utterly wasted in this movie) can act their way out of it. The Fearless Leader - or whatever he's called - acts like a little ninny throughout the whole thing and is only mildly threatening because of his ability to jump around the room real quickly. Thandie Newton, a normally competant presence, must've undergone a mind-altering of her own before filming her scenes; they are all terribly overacted and very laughable. And let's not start on Vin Diesel. People rag on Stallone and Segal as being bad? This guy's much worse. And the entire film revolves around him.
- The ideas of various world religions and the Underverse seemed like interesting concepts worth exploring, but I guess the movie really needed all those fight scenes instead.
- Speaking of which, someone needs to teach the cinematographer how to film a fucking fight sequence. Every one of these looks like it was photographed by a retard on Ritalin. I feel like I'll revisit my cookies soon...
- The ENTIRE Crematoria segment was pointless and boring, only serving as a cool set piece and as a nice "escape the sun" sequence.
- Something nice about the movie? It was still better than The Matrix Reloaded. Unless.
Seriously, save your money.
Why didn't I like it? Well:
- It seems no one (not even Judi Dench, who is utterly wasted in this movie) can act their way out of it. The Fearless Leader - or whatever he's called - acts like a little ninny throughout the whole thing and is only mildly threatening because of his ability to jump around the room real quickly. Thandie Newton, a normally competant presence, must've undergone a mind-altering of her own before filming her scenes; they are all terribly overacted and very laughable. And let's not start on Vin Diesel. People rag on Stallone and Segal as being bad? This guy's much worse. And the entire film revolves around him.
- The ideas of various world religions and the Underverse seemed like interesting concepts worth exploring, but I guess the movie really needed all those fight scenes instead.
- Speaking of which, someone needs to teach the cinematographer how to film a fucking fight sequence. Every one of these looks like it was photographed by a retard on Ritalin. I feel like I'll revisit my cookies soon...
- The ENTIRE Crematoria segment was pointless and boring, only serving as a cool set piece and as a nice "escape the sun" sequence.
- Something nice about the movie? It was still better than The Matrix Reloaded. Unless.
Seriously, save your money.
Prince of Space said:
How can anyone complain about Vin Diesel's performance? His Riddick character, for my dollar, is great. And he's playing the SAME CHARACTER he played in another movie. If you didn't like him in Pitch Black, why would you see this movie?
If they gave away all that stuff before the next two movies, then why see the next two movies?
Yeah, that was awful. A lot of people are complaining that it was an edit for a PG-13 rating, but Twohy has been aiming for a PG-13 rating from the start. I just think it was shoddy workmanship.
No way. Seeing Jack again was awesome. She was the only person he knew and certainly the only other character from Pitch Black that was alive!
I concur.
Prince of Space
Banned
Perhaps because he wasn't the center of attention in Pitch Black? Pitch Black was a more Aliens-esque movie that was more entertaining because it didn't focus on just one character. Taking a supporting character from that movie and trying to set this big Star Wars-kinda epic around him just doen't work.
This is supposed to be a trilogy? Ugh.
And pretty much inexcusable, considering an R rating no longer carries most of the negative connotations it once did, Just look at Kill Bill and the Matrix movies.
That other guy wasn't alive?
The Bookerman
Member
It sucked.
Mythos and religion didn't fit at all with what was accomplished in Pitch Black.
Escape from Butcher Bay and Pitch black feel perfect together. But this sequel I just saw was uber trash.
Mythos and religion didn't fit at all with what was accomplished in Pitch Black.
Escape from Butcher Bay and Pitch black feel perfect together. But this sequel I just saw was uber trash.
I think that he thought that you meant that she was the only character from Pitch Black alive at the start of the movie, which would be incorrect. But that's not what you meant.ManaByte said:
Anyway, the movie may have sucked, but hopefully Twohy will be more successful in the future.
Doc Savage
Member
I was thinking the same thing as Manabyte about the ending. The movie was good, not great. There were things that should have happened if such an event were ever to plague the universe. I would like to see what they cut out and hope it goes into more detail about the races and what not. I hope it does good enough to warrant a sequel.
Movie was very badass. Although you could tell where parts were chopped up(sound dropping out). And that was one of the coolest endings to an action movie ever. I had a big ass grin on my face(and I usually never show outward emotion to a movie.) It left me begging for what comes next.
PS. That wife of the ambitious general had something funny about her. In one instance she looks nasty as hell. The next she looks like the sexiest/hottest person alive. Wierd.
PS. That wife of the ambitious general had something funny about her. In one instance she looks nasty as hell. The next she looks like the sexiest/hottest person alive. Wierd.
Uno Ill Nino
Banned
C'mon people. Riddick gave one of the Necros a fucking SUPLEX. And then some other guy gave an enemy a BACK-BREAKER. WTF? And were you people even watching the movie? Didn't you see those reptile-cat things? They looked terrible. It was like CG from a PS1 game. Plus all those poorly delivered lines. Hell, its not even so much that they were delivered poorly all the time, they were just badly written altogether! Plus they didn't even bother explaining the whole deal behind the Necros.
2/5 stars.
2/5 stars.
Duck of Death
Member
I can post my review I wrote at my Rotten Tomatoes journal.
-----------------
Review: The Chronicles of Riddick
MY CURRENT RATINGS:
2/10 Movie: The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)
This one is a disappointment, to say the least.
It should have been good. Pitch Black was an intimate, intense, and well-crafted science-fiction horror flick. Writer/Director David Twohy is an imaginative filmmaker that excels in quality sci-fi films. This film promised to take Riddick, the badass anti-hero from Pitch Black, and propel him into a hard-hitting science-fiction epic. It should have been good.
The Chronicles of Riddick is not good. It is not hard-hitting and only barely manages to pass itself off as an epic. It is not intimate, intense, or well-crafted like its predecessor. It is, on the other hand, one of the worst films I've seen this year.
A film can only be as strong as its story and characters, and this film is lacking in both these categories. The story is as lame as a male teenager's Dragonball Z fan-fiction piece. Elementals? Necromongers? Crematoria? What in the hell was David Twohy smoking when he wrote this junk? Maybe the ridiculous terminology could have been overlooked if the story had been compelling.
Unfortunately, the story is almost as stupid as the terminology. Let's see: the evil crusading Necromongers are seemingly indestructable, but they can be defeated by another kind of evil. That doesn't make much sense, but let's see where it goes anyway. Instead of gathering an army of evil dudes from across the galaxy, the ethereal Judy Densch decides that only one badass evil dude can save the galaxy. This is of course our hero, Riddick! Hurray! But Riddick doesn't want to help. Instead, he really doesn't want to do anything, until he remembers that he knew someone before condemning himself to an ice planet, so he decides to go save her. And following this storyline, he eventually "saves" the galaxy (I won't give away the ending). Does any of this make sense? It shouldn't, and it only gets worse.
Oh, I guess we have characters. Riddick is still a badass. His missing friend, Jack (or Kirya or whatever the hell she wants her name to be) is angry and can kick ass too. Oh, and we have the evil lord necromonger dude, and one of his subordinates who wants the power and has an evil wife/bitch/thing that is helping him. Speaking of this psycho hosebeast (played terribly by Thandie Newton), she seems to be the ONLY female member of the Necromongers. And there are some people who we meet for five minutes and are quickly killed or forgotten.
The mythology in this movie is retarded. The elementals (well, we only see one of them) don't really do anything. Judy Densch talks to a few people, floats for awhile, then smiles at the end, thoroughly accomplishing nothing. The necromongers are dipshit versions of The Borg from Star Trek: The Next Generation. And Riddick is supposed to be (get this, it's extremely original), a member of the ONLY RACE in the FUCKING UNIVERSE who can stop the necromongers. What the fuck is this shit!?!? Did nukes and tactical missles just vanish!?!? How about planting a bomb on the reactors of their ships and blowing them to hell!?
Ok, so the story sucks. However, this is a summer action film, right!? It has to have a lot of action! Let's see some blood and guts! If The Chronicles of Riddick had some great action scenes it would at least have been watchable. Unfortunately, the action scenes have also caught a case of "The Suck." The scenes were horribly filmed with excessive use of shaky cam, and the editing of these scenes is too quick and incoherent. The action scenes are miserable messes that fail on every level. The only action scene that works is at the beginning of the film, when Riddick is being chased through a canyon by bounty hunters. This scene is well-crafted and a great establishing scene for Riddick, but it is one of the few redeeming qualities of this film.
The Chronicles of Riddick is a simply terrible film. It is poorly photographed, poorly designed, poorly acted, poorly written, poorly directed, poorly paced, etc.. It is a steaming turd of a film. And it should have been good.
What a disappointment.
-----------------------------
I'm probably more harsh than I should be, but that's how I feel about the movie. And I didn't even explain all the other problems I had with this film.
-----------------
Review: The Chronicles of Riddick
MY CURRENT RATINGS:
2/10 Movie: The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)
This one is a disappointment, to say the least.
It should have been good. Pitch Black was an intimate, intense, and well-crafted science-fiction horror flick. Writer/Director David Twohy is an imaginative filmmaker that excels in quality sci-fi films. This film promised to take Riddick, the badass anti-hero from Pitch Black, and propel him into a hard-hitting science-fiction epic. It should have been good.
The Chronicles of Riddick is not good. It is not hard-hitting and only barely manages to pass itself off as an epic. It is not intimate, intense, or well-crafted like its predecessor. It is, on the other hand, one of the worst films I've seen this year.
A film can only be as strong as its story and characters, and this film is lacking in both these categories. The story is as lame as a male teenager's Dragonball Z fan-fiction piece. Elementals? Necromongers? Crematoria? What in the hell was David Twohy smoking when he wrote this junk? Maybe the ridiculous terminology could have been overlooked if the story had been compelling.
Unfortunately, the story is almost as stupid as the terminology. Let's see: the evil crusading Necromongers are seemingly indestructable, but they can be defeated by another kind of evil. That doesn't make much sense, but let's see where it goes anyway. Instead of gathering an army of evil dudes from across the galaxy, the ethereal Judy Densch decides that only one badass evil dude can save the galaxy. This is of course our hero, Riddick! Hurray! But Riddick doesn't want to help. Instead, he really doesn't want to do anything, until he remembers that he knew someone before condemning himself to an ice planet, so he decides to go save her. And following this storyline, he eventually "saves" the galaxy (I won't give away the ending). Does any of this make sense? It shouldn't, and it only gets worse.
Oh, I guess we have characters. Riddick is still a badass. His missing friend, Jack (or Kirya or whatever the hell she wants her name to be) is angry and can kick ass too. Oh, and we have the evil lord necromonger dude, and one of his subordinates who wants the power and has an evil wife/bitch/thing that is helping him. Speaking of this psycho hosebeast (played terribly by Thandie Newton), she seems to be the ONLY female member of the Necromongers. And there are some people who we meet for five minutes and are quickly killed or forgotten.
The mythology in this movie is retarded. The elementals (well, we only see one of them) don't really do anything. Judy Densch talks to a few people, floats for awhile, then smiles at the end, thoroughly accomplishing nothing. The necromongers are dipshit versions of The Borg from Star Trek: The Next Generation. And Riddick is supposed to be (get this, it's extremely original), a member of the ONLY RACE in the FUCKING UNIVERSE who can stop the necromongers. What the fuck is this shit!?!? Did nukes and tactical missles just vanish!?!? How about planting a bomb on the reactors of their ships and blowing them to hell!?
Ok, so the story sucks. However, this is a summer action film, right!? It has to have a lot of action! Let's see some blood and guts! If The Chronicles of Riddick had some great action scenes it would at least have been watchable. Unfortunately, the action scenes have also caught a case of "The Suck." The scenes were horribly filmed with excessive use of shaky cam, and the editing of these scenes is too quick and incoherent. The action scenes are miserable messes that fail on every level. The only action scene that works is at the beginning of the film, when Riddick is being chased through a canyon by bounty hunters. This scene is well-crafted and a great establishing scene for Riddick, but it is one of the few redeeming qualities of this film.
The Chronicles of Riddick is a simply terrible film. It is poorly photographed, poorly designed, poorly acted, poorly written, poorly directed, poorly paced, etc.. It is a steaming turd of a film. And it should have been good.
What a disappointment.
-----------------------------
I'm probably more harsh than I should be, but that's how I feel about the movie. And I didn't even explain all the other problems I had with this film.
Xenon
Member
After seeing Van Helsing I guess my expectations have been lowered. Because I had fun watching Riddick. I have seen Vin D movies before so I knew what to expect. Sure the story was Shakespeare for dummies. But it was so cool how the canteen of water shielded him from the 700 degree sun. LOL That was fucking awesome! LOL Its was dumb fun. The ending did make the movie work for me.
I wouldn't mind seeing more of Riddick's adventures.
btw how do you do the black out spoiler free text?
I wouldn't mind seeing more of Riddick's adventures.
btw how do you do the black out spoiler free text?
Ninja Scooter
Member
just got back from seeing the movie and (WARNING FOR SPOILERS!)...i hate to say it cause i loved Pitch Black...but "meh". I think the difference between Pitch Black Riddick and CoR Riddick is that he was much more subdued and seemed more cold and calculating in PB. You really believed he was this psychotic killer and his actions were much more unexpected. In this one he played the typical generic hero throwing out one liners and doing what typical generic action hero's do. I mean, WTF? He's sitting there crying over Jack/Kira when he hasn't seen her in 5 years? All of a sudden she's "All he has"? He's not supposed to give a shit! I know its not TECHNICALY a real sequel to Pitch Black, but i also found it kinda lame that he goes from this anti-hero to "saviour of the galaxy". Something about the set design and costumes of the Necromongers screamed "SciFi Channel Original Movie" to me. I don't know, something just made it feel like Twohy and Diesel sold out the original movie to try and force Riddick as an action franchise.
Ninja Scooter
Member
Fjord said:
i don't get high anymore.
Warm Machine
Member
First off...Cinematographers don't shoot shit. They decided on lenses, lighting, film stock, and developing techniques, etc...based off what the director needs for HIS shots. The camera operator actually does the shooting but of course what he shoots is based off what the director wants.
This is why most directors always work with differn't cinematographers and operators yet most of their movies have the same visual style.
The editor works WITH the director. The two of them sit in the editing booth and rough cut the whole film and then work down from there. Some directors have great rapport with their editors and let them choose their own route but it remains the directors choice what goes in and what goes out. Once a cut is delivered to the producers and the studio other changes may be necessary depending on the competence of the final piece. The editor only works without the directors input if the director had been fired from the project.
Twohy has a very specific style with the editing. He'll cover alot of stuff and then bridge shots and sequences with very tight (to the point of macro) quickly edited inserts. That said, the movie and the fight sequences were cut and shot far too tight.
Everything in a movie is generally the Directors decision. They have signoff on most every facet of the production. That is why there are directors in the first place. The more seasoned the director the more choices and leeway he has.
All that said, Riddick was an ok movie. Not crap and not genius. It plain just sits in the middle being average. I'm hoping a longer cut of the movie will sort out many issues that the film had. I felt the story was too scattershot, especially considering just how simple it really is and that many of the sequences seems extraneous (like Riddick running the rooftops during the invasion just to end up where he was before)
I'd heard lots of complaints about Thandie Newtons action but I didn't notice a single bad delivery. She played an over the top calculating manipulative bitch that used her charms to get what she wanted. To that point she played it perfect.
Of Twohy's other films that I've seen which are Below and Pitch Black, both those films are easy 9/10 and this is a 6/10.
This is why most directors always work with differn't cinematographers and operators yet most of their movies have the same visual style.
The editor works WITH the director. The two of them sit in the editing booth and rough cut the whole film and then work down from there. Some directors have great rapport with their editors and let them choose their own route but it remains the directors choice what goes in and what goes out. Once a cut is delivered to the producers and the studio other changes may be necessary depending on the competence of the final piece. The editor only works without the directors input if the director had been fired from the project.
Twohy has a very specific style with the editing. He'll cover alot of stuff and then bridge shots and sequences with very tight (to the point of macro) quickly edited inserts. That said, the movie and the fight sequences were cut and shot far too tight.
Everything in a movie is generally the Directors decision. They have signoff on most every facet of the production. That is why there are directors in the first place. The more seasoned the director the more choices and leeway he has.
All that said, Riddick was an ok movie. Not crap and not genius. It plain just sits in the middle being average. I'm hoping a longer cut of the movie will sort out many issues that the film had. I felt the story was too scattershot, especially considering just how simple it really is and that many of the sequences seems extraneous (like Riddick running the rooftops during the invasion just to end up where he was before)
I'd heard lots of complaints about Thandie Newtons action but I didn't notice a single bad delivery. She played an over the top calculating manipulative bitch that used her charms to get what she wanted. To that point she played it perfect.
Of Twohy's other films that I've seen which are Below and Pitch Black, both those films are easy 9/10 and this is a 6/10.
I saw this last night, with the free ticket I got from the Pitch Black DVD.
How can a movie that has such amazing production design and such a good cast (Judi Dench, Colm Feore) be so freaking dull? At least that's what I asked myself while I was watching the movie, until I realized that it rips off several of the major SF big-budget flops of the 1980-1990s. The Necromongers are basically the Slayers from Krull, the whole prison-planet sequence had an Alien 3 vibe to it, and the final fight scene is pretty much the final fight from David Lynch's Dune, with an additional plot twist, and an absence of Sting. ("I WILL KILL HIM! MY BLADE WILL FINISH YOU!")
The idea of staying ahead of the sunrise was pretty cool, but they didn't execute it properly:
That said, I actually enjoyed Vin Diesel's performance in this--it's too bad there almost certainly won't be a Riddick 2, seeing how well Twohy set up for it.
How can a movie that has such amazing production design and such a good cast (Judi Dench, Colm Feore) be so freaking dull? At least that's what I asked myself while I was watching the movie, until I realized that it rips off several of the major SF big-budget flops of the 1980-1990s. The Necromongers are basically the Slayers from Krull, the whole prison-planet sequence had an Alien 3 vibe to it, and the final fight scene is pretty much the final fight from David Lynch's Dune, with an additional plot twist, and an absence of Sting. ("I WILL KILL HIM! MY BLADE WILL FINISH YOU!")
The idea of staying ahead of the sunrise was pretty cool, but they didn't execute it properly:
So it's 700 degrees in the sun, but the escapees can save themselves from hiding in shadow? Where it'll only be, what, 600 degrees?
That said, I actually enjoyed Vin Diesel's performance in this--it's too bad there almost certainly won't be a Riddick 2, seeing how well Twohy set up for it.
Warm Machine said:
Not always true--depends on the DP. A movie shot by Roger Deakins will always have a distinctive, high-contrast visual style, whether he's shooting for the Coen Brothers or Scorsese. Robert Richardson has a unique visual style as well. With a trained eye you can spot the work of those DPs before you even see their name in the titles.
There are some stylist directors (James Cameron, Ridley Scott) that have a singular visual style from film to film, but they tend not to work with DPs like Deakins.
- Status