Riddick

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Year:	2013
Country of origin:	USA
Director:	David Twohy
Genre:	Sci-fi action sequel
Starring:	Vin Diesel, Jordi Mollà, Katee Sackhoff, Dave Bautista, Matt Nable
Rating:	3/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1411250/
Tagline:	Rule the Dark
Favourite line:	"One down... Three down. You see where I'm going with this?"

A sequel nobody appeared to want, garners a smidgen of interest in terms of action, but generally lives down to expectations.

The plot:
Abandoned on a hostile planet, anti-hero Riddick seeks to make his way to a place of safety. To get there, he must first do battle with the environment and, primarily, the ferocious fauna present. Between him and the lush, green land of hope lies a yawning chasm, which can only be traversed by passing through a cave, home to a water-borne creature with looks somewhere between a scorpion, a cobra and Piers Morgan if his face were melted down into a waxy slurry.
What's that you say?
If?
Once across, and having befriended a puppy version of the savage dogs that roam the land, Riddick finds his way to an abandoned mercenary base, where he triggers a beacon, deliberately announcing his presence to the local star system, despite the fact he is a wanted fugitive.
Picking up the signal, two rival gangs of Mercs arrive, intent on taking Riddick captive for the bounty on offer so he can answer for his crimes.
Yeah, wish them luck.

Starts promisingly enough, with Riddick meeting beast after toothy beast, fending them off with whatever comes to hand; bones, his metal plated armour, rocks and so on. It's entertaining stuff, and pretty funny, too, the ludicrousness of his predicament bringing a wry smile, though it is not clear at all times whether this is intentional or not.
Indeed, much of the problem with the film lies in its tone. On the one hand, it's going for a balls to the wall sci-fi action romp, and it partially succeeds then, next minute, charisma vacuum Vin Diesel is delivering barbed one liners that, again, it's hard to be certain if they are meant to be comical or not.
Crippled by a second act that is turgid and plodding, things do pick up again towards the end, and director Twohy delivers a nice helping of atmosphere, as the motley gang fight in the midst of horrendous rainfall, Riddick always at the advantage due to his preternatural night vision.
As second sequels go, there are far worse out there but, trouble is, it's impossible not to compare it to the original, Pitch Black, an outstanding slice of mid-budget sci-fi horror, which borrowed liberally from such obvious sources as Aliens and Event Horizon, but also from the world of videogames. I'm thinking Doom, kids. That's right. Doom. 'Nuff said. Oh, and it's safe to completely discount the frankly atrocious first sequel, The Chronicles of Riddick, a pompous, bloated bore-a-thon which tried to weave in political chicanery and, you know, actual intelligence into proceedings. Big mistake.
Mention must be made, also, of a sense of outright misogyny and hostility aimed at the sole female character, Dahl, played by the always fabulous Katee 'Starbuck' Sackhoff. One line in particular, in which Riddick threatens to go 'balls-deep' into her is especially distressing and massively, massively misjudged.
Average fodder, this, and certainly not worthy of a continuation of the franchise.
Oh well.