Escape to the Movies: Riddick

[theApoc]

The only thing I completely agree with in regards to Bob's review is the whole lesbian thing, mainly because there was no point in mentioning it OTHER than to have Riddick be crass about it. Her character would have worked just as well without mentioning it and the bit at the end would have made more sense were she not a self-proclaimed lesbian. I think the ONLY reason you would mention that in this movie is if there were another female character and the relationship between the two was there to add some tension, or a greater sense of danger. In this case it was just something tacked on for no good reason.

Beyond that. I am not sure what more Bob wants in terms of explanation regarding the second movie. Seriously, they pretty much sum up the whole thing, Riddick was king, he got complacent, people didn't like that, so they tried to kill him. All of which makes perfect sense in regards to the character.

Now, where I think this movie was let down was in the tension/suspense department. Pitch Black works because of the unknown element, this movie telegraphs everything that is going to happen, before it happens. It was a descent movie, made on a smaller budget. I think for the most part Bob is correct, just gets a little too "i hate the cool kids" for my taste when talking about movies like this.

 

[leviadragon99]

Huh... well the "fucking her straight" thing is pretty repulsive, if it weren't for that I might've considered watching this as popcorn fare...

Like I mentioned earlier, nowhere is the phrase "fucking her straight" ever used in the actual movie. Riddick merely makes a few lewd comments and then grabs her ass at the end. BTW, I don;t recall her sexual orientation even being mentioned in front of Riddick. There's also the small matter of the merc who attempts to rape her, but nooooooo, a couple of lewd comments is just sooooo much worse.

Just because it wasn't said openly, doesn't mean it wasn't implied.

And I think the other merc trying to rape her is also pretty pathetic, given that it's trivialising rape and using it as a cheap engagement tactic, easy vilification of the one guy at the expense of her.

And for that matter, sexual harassment via unwanted comments and touching may not be as serious as rape, but it's still a serious problem in the world today, and is just really icky to try and use as part of a morally ambiguous character shtick.

 

[Andrew Majik]

I guess I'm one of the few people on this planet that both REALLY like Vin Diesel, REALLY liked Chronicles of Riddick and actually Does Not like the Fast and the Furious movies. He's campy and macho, and the Riddick universe is really superheroy.

Did you know there's a whole series of VIDEOGAMES and an animated series based on Chronicles of Riddick? And that they ALL have Vin voicing Riddick?

 

[jmarquiso]

Wait, Battista, Diesel and Sakhoff all talked to Marvel after this movie, and are in Marvel movies. This wasn't a movie, it was a casting call.

 

[UM536]

That was supposed to be robocop?!?!

 

[spartan231490]

Honestly, this is yet another review that makes me wonder why your movie reviews are so popular. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they are, I love "The Big Picture" but, I disagree with you on virtually every movie review I've ever seen(which is reasonably few for that very reason. Well, there's my .02, not that anyone cares.

 

[VonBrewskie]

I loved this movie. I hear yah Bob. I do. I don't know. Aliens is one of my favorite films of all time, Pitch Black seemed like an homage to it back in 2000. Vin Diesel sold me on Riddick then. I thought "Chronicles" was kind of terrible, but in this disjointed awesome way I can't seem to help but love. Then this one. I mean, the guy literally stands naked on a precipice all like, "LOOK AT MY BALLS WILDERNESS!" He has like, fifty scenes where he stands like that, or slowly walks toward the camera. It was just self-indulgent awesomeness to me. It totally nailed the feeling I got from Pitch Black. Was it a great film? Helllllll no. It was just what you said. A B-Movie. I happen to love B-Movies with the kind of passion for the subject matter Riddick possesses. Here's hoping I see more of the Necromongers or whatever in a sequel. It'd be great to see more of them in a game perhaps.

 

[Jadak]

Like I mentioned earlier, nowhere is the phrase "fucking her straight" ever used in the actual movie. Riddick merely makes a few lewd comments and then grabs her ass at the end. BTW, I don;t recall her sexual orientation even being mentioned in front of Riddick. There's also the small matter of the merc who attempts to rape her, but nooooooo, a couple of lewd comments is just sooooo much worse.

Just because it wasn't said openly, doesn't mean it wasn't implied.

True, and it was definitely implied. However, I'm not sure Riddick was the one implying it, from what I watched it seemed like the 'lesbian' was more than carrying her own weight when it came to whom was coming on to whom. Frankly, she was so into Riddick that the biggest problem I have with the topic is that she declared herself as lesbian at all, as that does not seem to be the case as shown by her following behavior.

Also, while I'd have to check it again to be certain, I'm not sure Riddick is actually present during any moment where she clearly state herself as being gay.

 

[Primus1985]

I liked CoR, I was hoping it would expand the Riddick-verse and be a launching off point for other related media, but NOOOOO all he seems to have time for is 3 more Fast and Furious movies. The very least he could have done would have been a short animated movie filling in the gaps between movies, like Dark Fury did between Pitch Black and CoR. Oh well.


Again, I still didn't see how Chronicles was bad, no worse than some other drek that comes out.



Oh and I whole heartedly agree after watching the trailer to Robocop, it will suck, their not even trying to be like the original. Not even Sam Jackson's magnificence can save it. However whats with the "Maybe" to TF4? 2 was somewhat ok, not terrible but not as good as the first one, only thing that saved it was the Matrix of Leadership part. 3 was an unmitigated down right utter clusterf-. It made no sense and made some characters seem down right stupid. Hell Megatron was a total pansy the whole movie, perhaps the worst sin was Sam killing Starscream! Ive heard maybe Megs will turn into Galvatron and of course the Dinobots will be in it, but this is Michael Bay where dealing with the raper of our childhood. Galvatron will probably talk a lot and not do anything the whole movie only to be defeated by a maguffin. While the Dinobots...gods I don't even wanna think what he's gonna do to them.

 

[ForumSafari]

Also, while I'd have to check it again to be certain, I'm not sure Riddick is actually present during any moment where she clearly state herself as being gay.

He's not. At least if you don't take the view that Riddick is in every shot, you just don't see him most of the time.

Having said that I watched this film last night and as far as I remember he doesn't threaten to rape her, consent is specifically implied. He's also not shown 'getting the girl' at the end, in fact I read their relationship by the end of the film as merely friendly. That's a hell of a contrast because she's such a ***** to nearly everyone else but in and of itself her behaviour isn't odd.

 

[SecondPrize]

I just finished watching this. Where's the line where Riddick claims he'll fuck Sackhoff straight? There's him coming on to her, him telling her they'll have sex and her agreeing in the end but there's nothing like what Bob says. That's a very specific thing you're accusing the movie of doing, Bob, and I'm not seeing it in there.

 

[TheUnbeholden]

The reason the movie was made was not just because of Vin Diesel not wanting to let go, but the Riddick fans want another. I'm actually surprised it took this long for another. The fact that it is Pitch Black part 2, is more of a good thing then a bad thing... Joe is making it seem like it's a bad thing.. harping on it for having half the budget of the previous film, and the lesbian part. The movie has everything that made the first movie above average.

Except it doesn't have a believable religious character... instead it has a annoying religious guy who is played so over-the-top that you keep begging for him to die. That is the only bad thing about the movie..

There are nitpicks like how the female lead isn't as good as the first movie. Here the lesbian just comes off as cruel. The first movie had a female that was trying to be heroic eventhough she knows shes not. But I can also say there are some things I like better than the first movie.

I just finished watching this. Where's the line where Riddick claims he'll fuck Sackhoff straight? There's him coming on to her, him telling her they'll have sex and her agreeing in the end but there's nothing like what Bob says. That's a very specific thing you're accusing the movie of doing, Bob, and I'm not seeing it in there.

Yeah I think Bob is jumping the gun here.

 

[viranimus]

Well imagine that. An IP that does not fixate on being overly artistic for art films sake and does not pander to LCD franchises Bob is nostalgic for and not only do we get a


Bob even breaks out his "shit just got real" bean town inflection hiding under the surface to send the point home.

The Riddick universe while has some issues that do need some tweaking, it actually is fairly salvageable. Mostly behind the greater strengths of the games. If it could decide on what it will be, stick with it and flesh it out it could in fact evolve to something pretty good. It has both more depth, far more enjoyable and with more potential than many "lauded" franchises that do NOT deserve the respect they get and will remain nameless because of the irrationality of its fan base will spontaneously combust into all out flame war at the mere suggestion that it is a bad franchise that actually deserved the fate that it received.

The film and franchise are not bad. This is simply a case of blatant reviewer prejudice fueled by personal bias over more objective reasoning. This reviewer has made it abundantly clear of the personal aversion to "dark" "gritty" things. So a franchise focused on an "anti-hero" never had a chance.
___
On another note, the comment of "its 2013" + "Fuck it straight" concept might well be as it was put "gross" or disagreeable but perhaps it is just a tad bit more contemporary and relevant than you might want to think.

http://www.out.com/news-opinion/2013/09/03/when-bill-de-blasios-wife-was-lesbian

Not saying it is right or wrong or case example for anything. Just pointing out it is a little silly to be dismissive of something based on what certain people assume is what is "correct" when in fact it is far more subjective of an issue than can ever accept it being. Obviously it can and does happen in circumstances that people change their minds, perspectives, and tastes. To respond like it is so repulsive and ludicrous of a concept that it might as well be impossible is counter productive logic, short sighted and borderline intolerant.

 

[game-lover]

It was my impression that Pitch Black sold itself as a horror movie. Which is why it took me so damn long to watch it because I'm a coward like that. Then again... Alien/Aliens started off as a Sci Fi horror movie too but it went all action packed on us.

Anyway, I'm gonna watch it mostly because I like Vin Diesel, I like the character of Riddick and I wanna get my swoon on.

 

[ghostchild55]

After having seen the movie I don't really see the whole "fuck her straight" thing being that prevalent. She announces to the douche bag Santana that she "doesn't fuck guys" after quite a few nasty comments. Riddick is not present for this, so he's unaware that she is a lesbian. Though as the movie progresses it's implied she's not lesbian at all, given the way her character behaves with Riddick and the fact that after all his lewd comments she doesn't retort with the same. They're both capable alphas, chances are she probably finds Riddick the most worthy mate among the males around her, hell consent is even implied.

And I think the other merc trying to rape her is also pretty pathetic, given that it's trivialising rape and using it as a cheap engagement tactic, easy vilification of the one guy at the expense of her.

And for that matter, sexual harassment via unwanted comments and touching may not be as serious as rape, but it's still a serious problem in the world today, and is just really icky to try and use as part of a morally ambiguous character shtick.

Yeah Santana was already vilified long before that scene. He's an immoral asshole, the attempted rape was believable given the character. It wasn't a cheap tactic, nor did it "trivialize" rape. Just because it's a serious problem, and you think it's "icky" doesn't mean that it absolutely cannot be used in the movie. Murder and animal abuse are serious problems too. I don't see you complaining that the movie "trivializes" these things. Considering the same character killed both a woman and a space dog in cold blood. Or have you still not seen the movie?

 

[ProtoChimp]

Fucked straight? Fucked straight? I hope there is a backlash to this because that is fucked up and disgusting, not to mention homophobic to lesbians. That's sickening.

 

[ForumSafari]

Fucked straight? Fucked straight? I hope there is a backlash to this because that is fucked up and disgusting, not to mention homophobic to lesbians. That's sickening.

Maybe we should organise a joint protest with the Tunguska UFO Freedom Alliance and the Atlantis Aid Organisation, you know, just get together, save some time and organise one huge protest for all the shit that didn't happen.

 

[RJ Dalton]

You're absolutely correct and I thank you for alerting me to my mistake. Please allow me to rephrase that.

Nobody *who matters* cares about Riddick but Vin Diesel at this point.

Oh now that's just mean.

What can I say, I'm an asshole sometimes.

The "Riddick Series" has never been more than decent at its best (the first film) and it's decline has been painful to watch, especially since it represents an actor who can be really good when properly cast obsessing over the one moment when his career had promise. And I especially don't care to see a movie that's all about stroking Vin Diesel's injured ego by having characters repeatedly praise the character he loves. If I want that, I'll read fanfiction.

Yeah, I'll admit, that didn't sound particularly promising, but I contribute at least some of that to reviewer dislike. Bob makes no secrets about his opinions of movies when reviewing. Still, I'm hoping for a return to the galactic plotline in the future, regardless.

I don't usually agree with Bob in his opinions. I only watch him because I watch a lot of different reviews by critics. I like hearing the variety of opinions out there.
But Riddick . . . I'll give you that Pitch Black was only decent because Riddick was an interesting character, but it wasn't enough to make it a great movie. Or even a good one really. Just a decent sci-fi thriller, good for filling the empty space when you're bored and there's nothing better to do.
But the Chronicles demonstrated that Vin Diesel clearly didn't understand what made Riddick interesting, because it turned him into a one-note character who tries way too hard to be badass. It also made him "The Chosen One." Chosen one narratives are bullshit and almost as cliche as the Hero's Journey narrative.

You know what Vin Diesel really needs to do? He needs to use that clout to push forward another D&D movie. Only he should get a good writer on board instead of the hacks responsible for the previous two. I could see Vin Diesel as a really convincing rogue.

 

[evilneko]

Yay, I'm awesome according to MovieBob.

Spoiler: But....

But...I already knew that.

Also apparently more awesome than the movie in this review.

 

[JimB]

My apologies if this is the incorrect way to approach the matter, but I'm writing this post and then flagging it for moderator attention because this video is no longer a review of the film Riddick but is rather playing some sort of clip show of Escapist videos. It's my hope that the moderators can pass this information along to someone with the capacity to restore the correct video.