With a title like The Chronicles of Riddick, one can assume that David Twohy's movie comes with lofty aspirations. Indeed, there are hints of a complex, involving story here. 

 

Unfortunately, too many of the nuances are drowned out by incessant, repetitive action, pointless running around,and computer graphics overindulgence.So,although The Chronicles of Riddick offers its share of solidly entertaining moments, it doesn't hold together as a single, coherent motion picture experience. Too often, it simply makes no sense.

 

We were first introduced to Riddick (Vin Diesel) in 2000's Pitch Black, Twohy's ingenious and engaging Alien knock-off. That movie laid an egg at the box office, earning less than $40 million, but gained a following on home video. That, coupled with Diesel's enthusiasm to return to the role, got The Chronicles of Riddick off the ground. What keeps it from truly taking flight, however, is the film's lack of a logical, reasonable structure. As a futuristic action movie, The Chronicles of Riddick dazzles with impressive visuals and a few kinetic fight scenes. 

 

But as a work of science fiction, it's largely a failure, because it is occasionally impossible to figure out what's going on.The film opens about five years after the events in Pitch Black, and Riddick is on the run from bounty hunters again. His latest tussle with a group of "mercs" leads him back to his old pal Inam (Keith David), who has learned from the prophesy of the Air Elemental, Aereon (Judi Dench), that Riddick may be the only one to stop the warmongering Necromongers and their near-invincible Lord Marshall (Colm Feore).

 

The Necromongers are about to lay waste to Inam's planet, and Riddick arrives just in time… to be unable to stop much of anything. Soon, he's on his way to a penal planet to locate Jack, the teenage girl he saved in the previous movie. Jack has changed a lot in five years. She now goes by the name of Kyra, is played by a different actress (Alexa Davalos), and has become just as cold and cynical as her mentor.If the two of them can escape from the prison, they'll end up teaming up against the Necromongers, but that's a big "if," since there's a lot of running around, climbing, and shooting involved to succeed.

 

The Chronicles of Riddick boasts a striking look. The cinematographer is different (Hugh Johnson), but he follows the approach of Pitch Black by employing various color filters to indicate mood swings and lighting changes from planet to planet. The number of special effects has been greatly increased from Pitch Black, but that's not necessarily a good thing. 

 

Some of the most complex shots, including one near the opening when the Necromongers lay waste to a planet, look computer generated. Visually, a viewer should never confuse a motion picture with a computer game. That was a major flaw in The Matrix Revolutions as well.Much of the film's middle section, which concentrates on Riddick's adventures on the penal planet, are unnecessary to the overall plot, and they steal valuable time that could have been better spent on expanding the situation with the Necromongers. Also, a little more exposition should have been employed to expand upon the nature and goals of Aereon who  doesn't seem to serve much more of a useful purpose than to give Dame Judi Dench an opportunity to appear in a science fiction movie.