Just got back from seeing Riddick
 

I thought it was decent. The special effects and the action scenes very good. Overall, I enjoyed it and was entertained. The plot is a bit hokey though... something I'd expect from a comic book or a juvenile sci-fi book. I wondered if the writers were trying to go for a deeper meaning than what was on the surface though:

It's worth the price of a matinee. The DVD should be pretty nice... there was some great surround sound.

And "Jack" was hot. :)

Do we get to see Vin Diesel nude!?!?!?

I have a screening pass to this for tomorrow, but I haven't seen the first one (Pitch Black) yet.

Since I happen to own the original-release DVD (unopened still), I could watch it during the day before the screener, but I'd rather not do that (I like watching movies, especially scary ones, at night...) if I can help it. Since Pitch Black is supposed to be really good, I'd much rather watch it some evening when I'm ready for it, rather than forcing it upon myself for the sake of a (supposedly) lesser sequel.

Does it matter/will I suffer if I watch Chronicles first and then Pitch Black later?
Or do you think it's important I see Pitch Black first- either for the sake of continuity (so Chronicles is more enjoyable) or for the sake of surprise (so Pitch Black is more enjoyable)?

I think one character from the first one is in the second so I would watch it first if I was you.

the bridge eh? I'm still on the fence on going to that screening. Laker game and all.

since the Lakers are going to ...

I mean why not go and tivo the game ;)

DodgingCars:

I'm kinda looking forward to this one. I really enjoyed the first movie, and if the sequel is more of the same I'm sure I'll enjoy it just fine.

Yes.

And I found RIDDICK to be much better than PITCH BLACK...

I was actually excited about seeing the movie after watching the trailers but was disappointed after seeing the actual movie.

Riddick seems to be too much like a superhero because he almost seems indestructible and I never thought for a second that he was in any real danger. They also never really described why the Necromongers had to convert everybody to their ways or what the Necromongers really were. There are also too many characters and worlds, which makes the movie more complicated than it should be.

I agree that there was some good action scenes, but there were not enough to save this movie.

Is Keith David in this one too?

I prolly won't get to see it till it's on DVD, but I still wanna check it out if I can.

Woooaaaahhhh there cowboy. Lakers are going to... LOSE!!! :D

I actually think they have very little in common with each other. It's basically got the same character, but in a whole different kind of movie. I think C.O.R. can be watched without seeing Pitch Black -- which is probably why they didn't bother putting PB in the title of the "sequel."

This movie is definately flawed, but it didn't stop me from being entertained. Overall I considered the movie mediocore, which to be honest, was all I was hoping for.

Really?

RIDDICK references a lot of the relationships in BLACK, and two of the characters from the first film show up and talk about past events. The person I attended the RIDDICK screening with had not seen BLACK, and was lost from the get go (the film already being a very dense fantasy film).

As for the action sequences, I think Twohy made a big mistake by chopping them up so severely. The adventure segments are good, but once Riddick starts a "beat down," the film goes into Michael Bay mode for no reason.

Maybe beating up guys in rubber suits looks silly when you get a good look at it?

And they didn't call it PITCH BLACK 2 because Universal is spending $100 million on a sequel (which this is) to a film that topped out at $40 million. They don't want people to grasp that idea.

well i;m going tomorrow, only because i have a free ticket from the dvd.

CoR is just densely plotted but easily followed by genre fans. (And if you're not a sci-fi adventure fan there won't be much here for you anyway.) You don't need to see Pitch Black first. It adds less than 1% to the understanding of the movie.

As my buddy said after the preview, "It's just like a 2000 AD comic." Silly fun, in other words.

I haven't seen PB since it came out in the theater. I hardly remember it. I followed CoR without any problems. It seems like they referenced the past very rarely and it had little to do with the plot of CoR at all.

If you haven't seen Pitch Black already and are going to see CoR then don't bother seeing Pitch Black until after you see CoR. The main problem I have with the sequel is that I was expecting something else and thought it would be more like Pitch Black. Maybe if i never saw Pitch Black I would have enjoyed the movie more.

Re: Just got back from seeing Riddick
 

I agree w/ you . Actually, I liked it quite a bit. There hasn't been a good sci-fi/action movie in years & considering this has been the worst year for movies EVER so far IMO, after Kill Bill, this is the best movie I've seen all year. I've never seen Diesel in anything else, but i thought he was really good in this. With the right script I think the guy is pretty cool, I don't get what all the hate is for him, plus I've met him & he is a really cool guy. He reads comics & is a video game fanatic.

I can tell this is nothing like "Pitch Black". Doesn't bother anyone else that it is such a departure and the only semblance is the one character?

I thought PB was such an original concept and a true horror flick with sci-fi as a regurgitated after thought. And now we have these societies and planets with peeps and convuluted stories..where are the
I mean don't get me wrong, I guess the character of Riddick is interesting, but why not retread original territory a la "Aliens" and have him erradicate the meanies for some reason or another by himself or with some help. I dunno...I just think this whole new franchise concept is just wrong!

I could have seen the movie for free last Thursday, but now I have to shell out 6 bucks to see it.. sigh...

Thanks for the comments, I think I'll try to see it if I can. It sounds like my assumptions about the two films were pretty spot on- that they have very little in common, and that Universal would never greenlight a $100M+ movie that heavily depends on people already having seen what amounted to a semi-cult film.


Yeah exactly. I think I'm going to tape it, and hopefully not hear the outcome before I get home. My screening pass requires a college ID, which I have, but which also "might" be a few years old and invalid. Since you seem to go to these screenings often, are they going to be strict about this?

I don't want to get there and be turned down, thereby missing both the movie AND the game :(

Naa, I much prefer this departure. Pitch Black was a good fun movie, but in no way was it that original. It was a well told rethinking of a movie we've seen a million times, definately moreso than epic sized sci-fi adventures. I'm really excited to see such a departure. I don't think those aliens had much story left in them. Riddick on the other hand...he does.

But I'll have to see the film. That'll be the real judge. Looking forward to it though.

Just back from the sneak preview.

Excellant movie. Plot holes? sure. But still great fun.
Really good special effects and CGI. Lots o surround sound.
Non-stop Riddick-isms. He really breaks-it-off-in the baddies.