Please Explain

I consider myself a fan of Pitch Black. I discovered the movie in 2001 when a friend suggested that if I liked Vin Diesel I would love this sleeper hit; it was the movie that catapulted him into stardom. I rented the movie with my roommate and we watched it twice that first night. I don’t know her reasons, but mine was more for the movie and less for Vin in a tank top (though that sight was scrumptious).

I have since bought a copy of the theatrical and the editor’s edition. My current roommate and I bonded over the movie our first weekend in the new place; that was four months ago. This week, we’ve watched Pitch Black twice together and I’ve watched it once on my own. We got into a discussion about PB and the “sequel” The Chronicles of Riddick. I didn’t watch TCoR until last year (2008) and then I wasn’t impressed in the slightest.

As a fan of PB, I was excited to hear that a second movie was being made. However, when I found that Rhiana Griffith, the girl who played Jack, had been replaced; I was a little peeved. I, however, did a little research. I didn’t want to believe that Rhiana had been replaced for no reason. I thought it was possible that she didn’t want to do the second movie. Looking online, I found that wasn’t the case. According to most reports, she was given the part and then told that she needed to toughen up. When she didn’t “toughen up”, she was replaced by Alexa Davalos. This information left me with little to no desire to watch TCoR. So, four years later, I was at home and bored and found that nothing else was on except The Chronicles of Riddick. I sat down with beer and gave it a try.

Most of the movie, for me, was a “HUH” moment. Riddick is Furyan… hmm, interesting. Necromongers are taking over settlements all over the galaxy. There are such creatures as Elementals. The movie left me with more questions than just, “why wasn’t Rhiana Griffith playing the role she originated?” I sat in my living room wishing that David Twoy would magically appear and explain how PB and TCoR had anything to do with one another. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. I, like most people who watched the movie, had to figure that out on my own. Thank God for the internet.

I went on a search for any information that could explain what the hell they were thinking. By “they”, I mean the writers and producers; one of which was Vin Diesel himself. I found an interview with Mr. Diesel where he explained his vision. I get it, I think. I just don’t understand how so much was thrust at the viewer in two hours and we were supposed to get it. I don’t understand why so much was thrown at the viewer. My opinion, if anyone cares, is that they should have explained some of this in PB. But, of course, no one had thought of any of this during the writing of PB.

There is only supposed to be a five year difference between the two movies, so why weren’t Necromongers mentioned? Are we, the audience, supposed to believe that no one was worried about Necromongers because those beasts on T2 were so terrifying? No mention of elementals or Furyans. There was never a thought that Riddick was Furyan then? I… just… don’t know. If anyone has any answers that would make sense, please let me know.

Another aspect of TCoR that is unfathomable to me is the fact that Jack would join up with mercs. The excuse is that she wanted to find Riddick. So Jack, who witnessed the heroin addict Johns at all his glory and encountered Toombs, joined with people of the same nature. A teenage girl, who had traveled around, successfully, pretending to be a boy joins up with mercs. A girl, who had the common sense to endear herself to the biggest badest survivor of the Hunter-Gratzner crash, joined the people that her hero hated most. What part of this doesn’t make sense? I say none of it does. So, what would posses Jack to leave the safety of New Mecca to join mercs and chase Riddick around the galaxy? Riddick left her “when she needed him the most”. Really? Seriously? What the hell? Never do they go into why “she needed him the most”. I think an explanation of this comment would have been nice, but we don’t get one. Anyway, Jack gets slaved out by mercs (oh, imagine that, bad mercs who would lie to a teenaged kid). She turns into a bitter and spiteful young woman. This makes her change her name and become a killer. Oh yeah, and she hates Riddick for leaving her because that was the catalyst for everything that happened to her. HA, please stop making me laugh. So now we have Kyra; a kick ass badass with a chip on her shoulder. By the way, I couldn’t stand Kyra. She would have been a little better if played by Rhiana Griffith but the story would still make me cringe.

Imam is confusing as well. So, you want to save your hide; I get that. And the only person to do that is to find Richard B. Riddick. Well he is a bad mothertrucker, ok. How do you find Riddick? You don’t go find him yourself, NO, you hire MERCS. 1.5 million creds, to hire mercs to find Riddick. So, really, on what planet (pun intended) does this make sense? I know I keep asking that question, but I really want to know how any of this makes sense. I know I’m never going to get an answer, so I’ll continue. Imam then “sacrifices” himself to save his family, when the Necromongers (this name always makes me laugh) attack. Riddick is there but Imam doesn’t seem to have faith in his ability to protect them. So, what is the purpose of having Riddick there? Another question that will, undoubtedly, go unanswered.

I know I’m long winded. But these are some of the lingering questions from the movie. Believe me, I could go on and on about the nonsensical aspects of The Chronicles of Riddick. One last question, did we get a repeat of Riddick’s infamous line “not for me” when Kyra died? I can’t remember, I was laughing way too hard by that point and I can’t force myself to watch the movie again.

I’ve been hearing rumblings of a sequel to TCoR and I’m curious, at this point, enough to watch the movie. Really, I just want to know if they will rectify some of the mistakes they made during the first one. Will they bring Rhiana Griffith back as Jack? Will they explain some of the things introduced in TCoR? Will they rectify the mistake that was making Jack into Kyra? Because Kyra should have been a separate character. OR will I waste my time and money only to be confused and aggravated by yet another movie that isn’t actually a sequel to the movie that I’ve come to love? I guess only time will tell.

Forgive me, Vin Diesel, I still love you.