The Chronicles Of Riddick is the sequel to the superb Pitch
Black, where Vin Diesel reprises his role as Riddick, the cold-hearted killer
with night vision who becomes a reluctant hero. It would have been all too easy
for director David Twohy to simple do a remake of the first film, with Riddick
leading a new set of characters against the nocturnal monsters. Thankfully,
Twohy chose to think out of the box and create an all-new story centering on
Riddick. It's five years later, and Riddick is on the run from mercs on a
desolate ice planet. After effortlessly taking down the entire team, and
interrogating the leader, Riddick discovers that an entirely new bounty has been
placed on his head, and it is none other than the Imam (Keith David), the holy man
who was a fellow survivor of the nocturnal creatures from the first film, who put
out the new bounty to capture Riddick. Tracking down a man whose life he had saved,
Riddick travels to the planet Helion Prime to find out why this same man whom he
once trusted now wants him captured.
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Meeting up with the Imam, Riddick discovers that Aereon, (Judi Dench) an Elemental,
was the one who actually placed the bounty on his head. The Elementals are
wizard-like humans with powers that are almost magical in appearance. Aereon
warns Riddick of the Necromongers, a race of invaders who are laying siege to
every civilized planet in the known universe. Led by the Lord Marshall (Colm
Feore), a man who reportedly returned from the afterlife with superhuman powers
(he can pull the soul right out of an enemy's body), the Necos' religion centers
on a realm called the Underverse, which is their version of heaven, Valhalla and
paradise all rolled into one. As they invade planet after planet (in
imaginatively staged special effect scenes that provoke a genuine sense of dread
and wonder) they offer a choice to the survivors: convert or die. In short, the
Necromongers are bad news, and the entire human race, which is spread out across
the galaxy, may soon fall under their rule. Yet while Riddick may be a badass,
he is still only one man. What can he do against the might of the Necromongers?
Plenty, apparently! It turns out that Riddick is one of the last survivors of
the Furyans, a race that had been wiped out several decades before by the Lord
Marshall back when he was a local warlord. And a certain prophecy says that a
particular male Furyan survivor will rise up and challenge the Lord Marshall.
Yet while Riddick insists repeatedly that this is not his fight, as he goes
searching for the missing Jack, the young girl whom he befriended in the first
film, he cannot help but get caught up within this epic conflict anyway. And he
winds up making this struggle for the soul of the galaxy his own. 
The Chronicles Of Riddick is an inventive, visually stunning movie that is just
as much fun to watch as the original film. In addition to being a good action
flick, it also pays attention to the fine details. Riddick takes place in a well
thought out SF universe on the same vast scale as Star Trek, Star Wars and even
Frank Herbert's Dune universe. The production design is rich and well textured,
giving the feeling that we are truly witnessing a time period that takes place
several centuries from now. Director Twohy also sprinkles his grand tale with
political machinations, with Karl Urban as Vaako, a trusted lieutenant of the
Lord Marshall who plots Machiavellian schemes with his overly ambitious wife
Lady Vaako (Thandie Newton, who is superb). Their story shows that even the
Necromongers are not the standard one-dimensional villains found in most
empty-headed action flicks. 
The special features include deleted scenes, various "making of" documentaries,
and one level of the Xbox Game The Chronicles Of Riddick: Escape From Butcher
Bay. There's an commentary with writer/director David Twohy and actors Karl
Urban and Alexa Davalos, and much more. There's an Easter egg on the main menu
screen. Right under the word "play", hit the yellow highlighted pod and you'll
get a funny mini-documentary of actor Colm Feore shooting his character's
climatic scene. Feore's playful good humor shows that he's nothing like the
dreaded Lord Marshal that he plays. If you're looking for exotic science fiction
on an epic scale, you can't go wrong with The Chronicles Of Riddick ~ The Unrated
Director's Cut. --SF