Riddick - 2013

The film is not without flaws. The middle section, where Riddick plays cat-and-mouse with the mercenaries, can feel slightly repetitive. Some of the dialogue (particularly from Santana) crosses the line from “vicious” into “cartoonishly crude.” Additionally, while Katee Sackhoff is excellent as Dahl, the script briefly flirts with a tired implication about her sexuality that feels dated and unnecessary.

This opening is a masterclass in visual storytelling. We see Riddick vulnerable—something rare for the character—which makes his inevitable re-emergence as the apex predator all the more satisfying. riddick 2013

7/10 Best For: Fans of Predator , The Grey , and Pitch Black . Watch it with the lights low and the volume up. The film is not without flaws

After the ambitious but commercially disappointing space opera of The Chronicles of Riddick , director David Twohy and star Vin Diesel made a conscious decision to return to the franchise’s roots. The result, Riddick , is a lean, mean, and brutally effective survival thriller that strips the character down to his raw essentials: a lone predator stranded on a deadly planet, fighting for his life against monsters, mercenaries, and the elements. This opening is a masterclass in visual storytelling

It’s not high art. It’s a movie about a man who uses a knife to cut off his own crushed leg brace, tames a hyena-dog, and then proceeds to throw a bounty hunter through his own windshield. And for what it is, it’s damn good fun.