Once upon a time, there was a guy named David Twohy. He started out a few rungs down on the showbiz ladder, penning the late '80s horror flicks Warlock and Critters 2. As the '90s emerged, the outlook grew brighter for Twohy. After co-writing The Fugitive, he received critical acclaim for the 1996 sci-fi mystery The Arrival. But it was Twohy's outer space thriller Pitch Black that helped introduce a new action hero in the form of a then-obscure actor named Vin Diesel. Four years after its release, Diesel has become a genre icon, and now Universal Studios has released Twohy's The Chronicles of Riddick, a beefy sci-fi/action epic that strays far from Pitch Black's eerie simplicity and sets up Diesel's character to be at the center of an all-new potential franchise.

However, perhaps Twohy isn't ready for the world of 100 million-dollar budgets and all the special effects he can stomach. His directorial sense seems sharper for claustrophobic atmospheres; in The Chronicles of Riddick, he creates worlds built out of souped-up Beyond Thunderdome sets and filled with aliens/religious fanatics/leather enthusiasts. The end result? A sporadically fun movie -- but one it wouldn't hurt to wait for on video.   

Our story picks up as wanted convict Richard B. Riddick (Diesel) is on the run from hunters looking to claim the bounty that's been put upon his head. After dispatching his pursuers, Riddick decides to find out who's after him, so he heads to the planet where the hunters were hired. It turns out that Imam (Keith David), a holy man and fellow Pitch Black survivor, wants Riddick's help in fending off the neverending crusade of the Necromongers, alien beings led by the current Lord Marshal (Colm Feore) who conquer planets, convert those who will follow their faith, and pretty much kill everyone else. Soon Riddick finds himself being chased not only by the Necromongers, who see this warrior as someone with the potential to crush their empire, but also a group of bounty hunters who still want their payday.

Because The Chronicles of Riddick is a spinoff of Pitch Black, I can't help comparing it to Garfield and the way that movie has been adapted from the comic strip favorite. Both films feel like something simple and entertaining has been blown-up into a murky, overdone project. In expanding the world of Pitch Black, Twohy goes over the top by introducing varied locations, effects-loaded battles, and many other sci-fi elements into his story. I can imagine Twohy sitting down to write Chronicles and saying to himself, "Let's see, how much  random stuff can I cram into two hours?" 

The Chronicles of Riddick, designed to further develop a burgeoning franchise, will end up confusing some viewers instead. The filmmakers seem so confident of the movie's success that they hardly bother explaining the history of the Necromongers and provide only vague hints regarding Riddick's past. The idea of the Necromongers being hell-bent on converting all humans to their cause is intriguing, but Twohy never really gives it the chance to breathe, never setting up what the Necromonger faith involves besides making more Necromongers.

On the plus side, the action sequences serve well in charging the story with zest and energy (I especially liked the scene where Riddick and some inmates flee a fatal sunrise on the aforementioned prison planet). Unfortunately, these sequences display the film's grungy production design and are so frantically-edited, at one point I thought I was watching a trailer instead of the feature film. Still, if nonstop action is what you expect, you won't be disappointed by The Chronicles of Riddick. 

Vin Diesel delivers a convincing tough guy turn as Rddick. Although Boiler Room may contain his best performance, he does an impressive job here of turning Riddick into his signature character, his Terminator or Rambo. I predict this is the role most people will remember him for -- Diesel certainly projects the right amount of gritty demeanor and personal raspiness to make Riddick all his own. The other actors, though, aren't so lucky. Colm Feore does an amplified version of his villain from Stephen King's Storm of the Century, Thandie Newton and Karl Urban overact circles around each other as Necromongers scheming to overthrow the Lord Marshal, and Judi Dench seems to be here only to pique the curiosity of those who have always wondered what a movie starring Vin Diesel and Dame Judi Dench would be like. I did, though, enjoy Nick Chinlund as a bounty hunter constantly on Riddick's trail, Keith David as the man who summons Riddick to help fight, and Alexa Davalos as another person from Riddick's past.

How you view these two chapters in the saga of Richard B. Riddick boils down to whether you prefer action flicks or horror movies. If the latter is more your style, then Pitch Black is your kind of film. It features enough eerie atmosphere and things that go bump in the night to satisfy your craving. But if your preference leans toward movies with lots of fights and explosions, then The Chronicles of Riddick is for you.  

MY RATING: ** 1/2 (out of ****)

(Released by Universal Pictures and rated "PG-13" for intense violent action and some language.)

Review also posted on www.ajhakari.com.