The Chronicles of Riddick has all the potential you could ask for in a sequel: an interesting premise, it isn’t a repeat of the original, great bad guys, spectacular imagery and special effects, and of course Judy Dench. But in the end, all that amounts to is an A+ trailer. Admittedly Vin Diesel’s only passable live action role was in Pitch Black, in which the dark, sexy menacing thing he’s got going for him was rarely interrupted by his awesome deep voice, thus highlighting and not detracting from both. Since then I have been horrified by his completely lack of acting ability in his more recent efforts such as XXX and The Fast and the Furious. But hormones and eagerness for a good sci-fi flick and his wonderful vocal performance in The Iron Giant, kept my fears at bay.

Unfortunately, Diesel outdoes himself in the ‘appalling acting’ stakes. He looks confused throughout most of the film, perhaps thinking ‘what am I doing in this film again’?, his voice-overs are incredibly irritating and melodramatic and perhaps most ridiculous is the 20-30 times he takes off and puts back on his glasses.

The Necronomion are interesting villains that do not get enough screen time. I was left wanting to know much more about them. Their politics and drive are the most interesting part of the film, but hardly explored. Their search for the Underverse will mostly likely be explained in another sequel, but a lot more of it in this film and a lot less hero worship of Diesel would have made a much better film. The middle third of the film is missing the Necronomion entirely, as the action moves to a hot prison planet called Crematoria (could they come up with a more trite name?). Here we once again have to endure over the top examples of Riddick’s super human/villain abilities and or course the heinous narrative. I have no idea why this section is in the film. It distracts from the main plot, using precious time that could have been used to explore the villains and the more epic master plot. It is also in this section where the film becomes just plain ridiculous. When the characters are being chased by a dawn that will generate 200+ degree temperatures on the planets surface, Riddick hides from these extremes temperatures less than a meter into a cave. Great air-con in that cave I guess.

Judy Dench is beautiful as always, but her character is both impotent and unnecessary. She attempts to raise the story above villain verses villain to a more epic genre, but to no avail.

Yet, you do have to feel sorry for the designers of this film. It is visually stunning to an award-winning level, and the Necronomion are masterfully drawn. They look sumptuous and passionate and cold at the same time. However, we lack any real understanding of them. Why are they on their mission? Why are they killing worlds along the way? What happens to them when they are changed? Designers can only go so far in sparking interest in the villains and the story simply does not follow through, leaving both characters and audience lost. I give this film 2 stars.