Apr

21

Bigger, Blacker, Better, Bombaster… Pitch Black II

April 21, 2007 |

 

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Okay, so the title wasn’t Pitch Black II, but rather The Chronicles of Riddick (of which there will probably be no more).

A friend laid her finger on the problem with this movie, one that also ailed Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, Highlander II, First Blood Part II, and many another sequel. The second coming aims to be bigger and better… and more often than not it hits grandiosity rather than greatness.

Pitch Black, like the first in each of the other series mentioned above, was a taut, economical, punchy little gem of its sort, in this case sci-fi horror. The Chronicles of Riddick looked great, taking visual notes from The Matrix, The Road Warrior and David Lynch’s bizarre Dune but also earlier films like cult classic Zardoz and even, perhaps inadvertently, calling to mind the live-action He-Man. And it coined some great language– Necromongers, or the prison planet Crematoria.

Dark Helmet of the NecromongerBut it was so full of overdrive that ultimately it was flabby, unfocused, entirely predictable, wearisome.

Not that bad a film, really– certainly no Highlander II. But more fun with the sound turned down.

And… to choose a cheese: Well… extra mozzerella will have to do. Why that one? I think back to Saturday Night Fever, where John Travolta (before eventually giving us forgettable sequel Stayin’ Alive) smacked a slice of pizza on top of a slice of pizza… laying everything on too thick, then cramming it into your face, is the mode of this movie.

 


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