‘Riddick’ riddled with plot problems

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In theaters

THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK, directed by David Twohy, written by David Twohy, Jim Wheat and Ken Wheat, 118 minutes, rated PG-13.

The new David Twohy movie, “The Chronicles of Riddick,” is set in Crematoria, a sun-baked planet whose blistering heat is so intense it fries the film’s joints with one of the most chaotic plots to hit theaters in years.

A loose sequel to the 2000 breakout hit “Pitch Black,” “Riddick” is light-years away from that movie, which featured Vin Diesel and company fending off death from swarms of bat-winged aliens out for blood. The film was low-budget fun, a sci-fi horror flick that created a tense mood of dread by unfolding in the dark.

“The Chronicles of Riddick,” on the other hand, wants to switch on the lights, which is fine since it reveals a movie that’s great to look at. Holger Gross’ set design, in particular, features a more-is-more sensibility that works, making the film appear more interesting than it is.

Too bad about the story.

Based on a screenplay by Twohy, Jim Wheat and Ken Wheat, “The Chronicles of Riddick” is as messy as it is muscular, featuring more shaved beef than a deli. In it, the vast army of the Necromongers, a fundamentalist group of leatherclad muscleheads led by Lord Marshal (Colm Feore), are determined to subjugate the universe by bending its inhabitants to their will. Should these folks refuse to conform, they’ll have their souls sucked out of their bodies, which is never a pleasant scene, as we learned from the Dementors in the current Harry Potter movie.

To promote their cause, the Necromongers first need to go through Riddick (Diesel), the intergalactic outlaw gangster armed with biceps the size of semis and a baritone growl that wraps itself around punchy bon mots designed to test well with audiences.

What ensues is two hours of unrelenting strife, with Riddick battling Lord Marshal, his men and the wicked Dame Vaako (Thandie Newton) in an effort to stop them cold amid the sizzling heat.

Diesel makes the most of a physical role that provides little insight into a character that remains an enigma. He certainly looks the part, though, and he is convincing in it, though that might not be considered a compliment since his Riddick has become more of a caricature than ever.

Dame Judi Dench co-stars as Aereon, a ghostly ambassador of the “Elemental” race Riddick is trying to save. When she appears onscreen and it strikes you that the actress is either slumming or has dementia, it ceases to matter. “Riddick” has already become “The Chronicles of Arthritic,” so lame that it needs a cane to lumber into its final act.

What harms the film is its script, a good deal of which seems written in code. The movie is often muddy and confusing, with not every unwieldy machination falling as neatly into place as it should have.

Grade: C-

On video and DVD

MYSTIC RIVER, directed by Clint Eastwood, written by Brian Helgeland, 137 minutes, rated R.

Clint Eastwood’s Academy Award-winning “Mystic River” tells the story of three boyhood friends divided by an act of sexual abuse in the early 1970s and then joined again in the present by murder. The film is slow-going but precise, a bleak, working-class tragedy set in Boston that’s darkened by Shakespearean undertones.

Essentially a police procedural, the guts of which ultimately hinge on contrivance and coincidence, the movie embraces an independent filmmaking spirit, one that demands less flash and better acting than your typical whodunit.

It opens with the surreal abduction of one of the boys by two pedophiles before fading to black and picking up their stories 25 years later on the eve of murder.

There’s Dave (Tim Robbins), whose molestation as a child has turned him into a near zombie; Jimmy (Sean Penn), a proud dad hardened by two years in prison yet softened by a loving wife (Laura Linney) and family; and Sean (Kevin Bacon), the responsible homicide detective whose marriage is near collapse.

None are close, but all live close-by, and when Jimmy’s 19-year-old daughter, Katie (Emmy Rossum), is murdered on the same night that Dave comes home with blood on his hands to his nervous wife, Celeste (Marcia Gay Harden), the movie’s core mystery builds, with Dave’s friend Sean and Sean’s partner, Whitey (Laurence Fishburne), on the case.

What ensues is good, occasionally powerful noir that has been overhyped. This story of grief and revenge is indeed lifted by its performances, but it’s undermined by Eastwood’s failure to fully develop his female characters, and a pat plot hook involving a mute boy that’s a left-field stretch. That said, Penn’s excellent, Academy Award-winning turn as Jimmy does generate unease. His guilt, rage and neighborhood absolution remain with you after the movie ends.

Grade: B+

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, 5:30 p.m. Thursdays on WLBZ 2 Bangor and WCSH 6 Portland, and are archived at Rotten

Tomatoes.com. He may be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.

The Video-DVD Corner

Renting a video or a DVD? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores. Those in bold print are new to video stores this week.

Along Came Polly ? D

Big Fish ? B

Brother Bear ? B

Calendar Girls ? B+

Cheaper by the Dozen ? B-

Dirty Pretty Things ? A-

50 First Dates ? C+

Fog of War ? A

Gothika ? D

Ghosts Of The Abyss ? C+

The Haunted Mansion ? C

House of Sand and Fog ? B+

In America ? A-

Kill Bill, Vol. 1 ? A

The Last Samurai ? C

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ? A-

Lost in Translation ? A

Love Actually ? B+

The Magdalene Sisters ? A-

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World ? A

Matchstick Men ? A-

Miracle ? B+

Monster-A

Mystic River ? B+

Open Range ? B+

Osama ? A-

Paycheck ? D

Peter Pan ? B+

The Rundown ? B

Scary Movie 3 ? B

School of Rock ? B+

Something’s Gotta Give ? A-

The Station Agent ? B+

Stuck On You ? D+

Swimming Pool ? B+

Sylvia ? B-

Thirteen ? B+

The Triplets of Belleville ? A

Torque ? D

21 Grams ? A

The Weather Underground ? A-

Welcome to Mooseport ? D

Win a Date with Tad Hamilton ? C+