Chronicles of Riddick - A Quick Summary

The Chronicles of Riddick is a 2004 American science fiction / fantasy / thriller film. It follows the adventures of Richard B. Riddick, as he attempts to elude capture after the events depicted in the 2000 film Pitch Black. It was directed by David Twohy, also the director of Pitch Black, and stars Vin Diesel, Karl Urban and Judi Dench, with Thandie Newton and Colm Feore.

"The Chronicles of Riddick" is the actual name of this film, though Universal has chosen to use it as an overall brand name for anything starring the character Riddick. Consequently, the 2003 re-release of Pitch Black was retitled The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black on the case (though the on-screen title remained the same), the animated short film The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury and the video game prequel / spin off was called The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay

The Chronicles of Riddick opens with a narrative, explaining the prescence of the Necromongers, a race of pilgrims travelling across the universe in search of the Underverse. Their leader, the "holy half-dead Lord Marshal" (Feore), systematically commands his Necromonger Legion Vast to overrun worlds and convert its inhabitants into Necromongers; those that oppose conversion die. The story begins with Richard B. Riddick (Vin Diesel) evading bounty hunter Toombs (Chinlund) on the icy world of UV VI. Following the events of Pitch Black, Riddick has been on the run for five years in an attempt to keep his friends Imam and Jack safe. A 1.5 million bounty is placed on Riddick's head and Toombs and his crew attempt to capture the rogue convict, but ultimately fail when Riddick steals Toombs’ ship and flies off towards the planet Helion Prime, in search of Imam.

In some versions of the film, Riddick is plagued by visions from a character named Shirah during the flight, who tells Riddick he is the last of a warrior-race called the Furyans.

When Riddick lands on Helion Prime, he confronts Imam (Keith David) in the city of New Mecca, demanding the removal on the bounty, but Imam concedes he placed the bounty on Riddick after Jack went looking for him several years earlier and ended up in prison on the planet Crematoria. Imam states he is still Riddick's friend and only betrayed his trust so that he could see him again, and so his people could have a fighting chance against their enemies. He introduces Aereon (Dench), an envoy of the Elementals, who arranged for Riddick to be brought to Helion. She explains Riddick is part of a prophecy that states a lone Furyan will one day challenge an unstoppable evil force and bring balance back to the universe, to which she says the Necromongers are the ones the prophecy foretells.

Following this revelation, the Necromonger army attacks Helion Prime, and wipes out the planet’s defenses in one night. Imam is killed in the attack while protecting his family. An enraged Riddick heads to where Helion Prime survivors are gathered before the Necromongers and the Lord Marshal and dispatches Imam's killer easily. Suspicious of his abilites, the Lord Marshal has Riddick taken into his fortress to confirm his identity. Placed before the psychic Quasi-Deads, who claim Riddick is a Furyan, the Lord Marshal orders Riddick's death, but he escapes, only to run into Toombs again. Riddick allows himself to be captured, so he can be transported to the prison on Crematoria, a dead world with day-time surface temperatures that scorch the face of the planet.

Riddick is reunited with Jack (Alexa Davalos), who now goes by the name of Kyra. She blames him for leaving her and Imam in New Mecca, but eventually they reconcile. Back on Helion Prime, the Lord Marshal commands Necromonger Commander Vaako (Urban) to find Riddick and have him killed. Vaako, who secretly covets Necromonger leadership, is curious as to why the Lord Marshal is so afraid of Riddick. With the some aid from his wife, Dame Vaako (Newton), the two learn prior to obtaining his current title, the Lord Marshal singlehandedly destroyed the Furyans' homeworld of Furya and its citizens, after a seer foretells that a male Furyan will one day cause the Lord Marshal's downfall. They deduce Riddick is the one in the prophecy, thus Vaako sets out to Crematoria with a small group of Necromongers and a Purifier to bring Riddick down.

When Toombs and his crew argue over Riddick's bounty with the prison warden and his guards, a gunfight erupts, after the warden is alerted to the incoming Necromongers, having picked up the trail left behind by Toombs' ship. The warden and guards escape, running through man-made tunnels towards the ship hangar, but locking the rest of prison down to prevent the inmates from escaping. Riddick, Kyra and some of the inmates decide to head to the surface and stay ahead of the rising sun and the conflagration it creates on the surface, hoping to reach Toombs' ship first. They reach the hangar and Vaako and his contingent of soldiers have arrived on the planet, hastily taking out the warden and his guards. Riddick and company are forced to fight the Necromongers.

Admist the numerous casualties, Vaako narrowly defeats Riddick and leaves him for dead, as the rising sun burns Crematoria's surface. Vaako and the surviving Necromongers make their escape, with Kyra stowing away aboard their vessel, believing he has perished. Riddick almost burns to death on the Crematoria surface, but is suddenly saved by the Purifier, who states Marshal has offered to spare Riddick's life, so long as he stays away from Marshal. The Purifier goes on to say Vaako will probably claim Riddick's death, in fear of failure, leaving Marshal vulnerable, thus allowing Riddick to kill the Necromonger leader with his guard down. Before walking into the sunlight and his death, the Purifier reveals himself to also be a Furyan.

Vaako returns to the Legion Vast, where the Lord Marshal promotes Vaako and Riddick flies Toombs’ ship back to Helion Prime, where he intends to rescue Kyra. The Marshal himself is aware of Riddick's prescence on the planet, and orders the "Ascension Protocol", which will ultimately destroy Helion Prime and its survivors. However, Dame Vaako has also seen Riddick, but suggests to her husband that he be allowed to fight Marshal, hopefully injuring him and allowing Vaako to deal the final blow and assume power (the Necromongers believe in the philosophy "you keep what you kill"). Riddick is steered towards the throne room, where he comes face to face with the Lord Marshal, who reveals Kyra has converted to the Necromonger faith. Furious at her betrayal, Riddick does battle with the Lord Marshal, but his unique powers prove far too great for Riddick to handle.

Riddick sitting on the Necromonger throne.

Before the Lord Marshal can deliver the coup de grâce, Kyra stabs him in the back, but he backhands her into a spike on a column, mortally wounding her. Vaako, sensing an opportunity to vanquish his superior and claim leadership of the Necromonger Legion Vast, strikes out at the Lord Marshal, but he escapes the blow with his powers, and mistakenly positions himself directly next to Riddick, leaving himself open to attack. Riddick stabs him in the head, ending the Necromonger's life. He turns to the wounded Kyra, who confirms she has always been "with him" before succumbing to her injuries. As he collapses on the Necromonger throne, the Legion Vast kneel before Riddick, who repeats the Necromonger adage, "you keep what you kill", and realizes that he is the new leader of their empire.

In some versions of the film, Riddick aborts the Ascension Protocol, sparing Helion Prime from destruction.

Cast

Actor


Role
Vin Diesel Richard B. Riddick
Colm Feore Lord Marshal
Thandie Newton Dame Vaako
Judi Dench Aereon
Karl Urban Vaako
Alexa Davalos Jack / Kyra
Linus Roache Purifier
Yorick van Wageningen The Guv
Nick Chinlund Toombs
Keith David Imam
Christina Cox Eve Logan

Critics and the box office

The Chronicles of Riddick received poor reviews from film critics, receiving a 28% Fresh rating with an average score of 4.6/10 on aggregate review site Rotten Tomatoes[1] and an average 38/100 score on MetaCritic[2]. The film performed poorly at the U.S. domestic box office ($57 million), though its total global box office take was $115 million. Total expenses for the film are estimated at $105 million. [1]

An Xbox game (The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, later ported to the PC) released simultaneously was very well received, as was the animated short film The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury by Æon Flux director Peter Chung. These have effectively made the whole endeavor a financial win for Universal Studios.

The Unrated Director's Cut DVD (featuring scenes which were cut in order to obtain a PG-13 rating) was released on November 16, 2004 and sold 1.5 million copies on the first day alone. Director David Twohy has said that sequel plans depend in large part on the commercial success of the DVD.[citation needed]

Sequels

In a March 8, 2006 article on Comingsoon.net, it was reported that Vin Diesel claimed that a sequel to The Chronicles of Riddick was in the works. According to him, he had already written a storyline that covered a trilogy which began with the Chronicles of Riddick. Another article on Comingsoon.net written on March 11, 2005 reports that Vin Diesel states that Chronicles 2 was to deal with The Underverse, while Chronicles 3 was to conclude the series with a return to Furya.

An article dated November 10, 2007 on countingdown.com, further indicates that a sequel may be in works - "We're talking about it". David Twohy indicates however that it "probably won't be a Universal movie and probably will be an independent movie" seeing a much smaller budget.
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