The Chronicles Of Riddick: Dark Fury
Vin Diesel returns as Richard B. Riddick, the character that first appeared in the excellent 2000 space horror movie, Pitch Black.
We encounter the survivors of that story, Riddick, along with Jack and Imam, trying to navigate their little skiff back towards civilisation. Out of fuel and with their ship failing, they cross the path of a huge mercenary cruiser called the
Vin Diesel returns as Richard B. Riddick, the character that first appeared in the excellent 2000 space horror movie, Pitch Black.
We encounter the survivors of that story, Riddick, along with Jack and Imam, trying to navigate their little skiff back towards civilisation. Out of fuel and with their ship failing, they cross the path of a huge mercenary cruiser called the Kublai Khan and are harpooned like a whale and dragged in.
Unfortunately for our survivors, the Kublai Khan is commanded by Antonia Chillingsworth, a voyeuristic sadist and collector of some very strange and macabre art. Riddick tries to pass himself off as the deceased bounty hunter Johns but the Mercs have sophisticated voice recognition systems. On learning the true identity of our hero and knowing his past, Chillingsworth is determined to add him to her bizarre gallery at all costs, but not before she can revel in making him give a performance of what he does best - killing…
Review
Pitch Black had to be the movie that propelled Vin Diesel to stardom and it's about time we had a sequel, albeit an animated short, but this is more than that. It's also a taster for the upcoming live action feature, The Chronicles Of Riddick, the true sequel to Pitch Black. However, if you haven't seen Pitch Black then Dark Fury might be a bit confusing as you're expected to know who the characters are straight off.
Directed by Peter Chung, whose previous work includes the respected Aeon Flux series and one of the Animatrix shorts, and written by David Twohy - what we get here is basically a short episode that takes place just after the escape from the planet featured in Pitch Black. It is promoted as a bridge between Pitch Black and The Chronicles Of Riddick but I suspect that you could easily pass it by and go straight to "Chronicles" without missing much of the storyline. What it does do is make Riddick seem more violent than he was in Pitch Black and it also introduces the character of Toombs, who appears again in The Chronicles OF Riddick.
The picture is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and it's crisp and clear throughout with no signs of dust, grit or grain anywhere. Colours are fairly well defined although whites seemed a little oversaturated in some places. As a mixture of mostly 3D rendered background art overlaid with more traditional, hand-drawn 2D cel animated characters, it can look a bit strange in places as some of the 2D work seemed jerky to me. On top of this there are some wholly CGI sequences and even some CGI character animation as well. The 3D backgrounds and CGI animations are all very well done but it's let down in places by some seemingly poorer 2D work. Chung, a Korean, stresses that this is not Japanese animation (Anime) and, while it tries to emulate the style of some Anime in places, it's certainly different from most of that genré.
The sound is a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix and, although nothing extraordinary, it does an adequate job with reasonable surround effects and clear vocals. Noticeably, the combat sequences are well handled with projectiles whizzing and zinging across the soundstage. Voice acting for the main characters is done by the actors from the live action movies so it helps a great deal with the continuity and character recognition. All that aside, the sound could have been so much better.
Entertaining fair for Riddick or Chung fans but nothing extraordinary and easily missable for those wanting to get into Chronicles. Go watch Pitch Black first!
Extras
Making Dark Fury: Bridging The Gap From Pitch Black To The Chronicles Of Riddick - Vin Diesel, writer/director David Twohy and writer Brett Matthews talk about what happened in the intervening five years between Pitch Black and The Chronicles Of Riddick. There's also some input from director Peter Chung and George Zakk, executive producer of The Chronicles Of Riddick. We also get some tantalising glimpses of The Chronicles Of Riddick. Worth watching and lasts eight and a half minutes.
Dark Fury Animatic - An alternate version of the main feature where the finished animation and backgrounds are replaced by earlier rough, hand drawn and simply animated sequences - sort of moving story boards along with the pre-cut voice-only soundtrack. If you're interested in how animations are made, then this might be of some value but I can't see it myself. Lasts the full 33 minutes.
Peter Chung - Into The Mind Of The Animator - Director Peter Chung gives us a five-minute look at how the movie was animated and how he works. Chung was also involved in the character and creature design as well as the background and prop design and storyboarding so he's well placed to comment on it.
A View Into The Light - Vin Diesel and David Twohy again, talking about how the character of Riddick was developed beyond the original Pitch Black movie to where, five years later, he appears in the next instalment - The Chronicles Of Riddick. Only lasts about five minutes but Includes some scenes and story details, which haven't been evident in the trailers, from the new movie.
Van Helsing Animated Trailer - A one-minute trailer for Van Helsing: The London Assignment, an animated prequel to the movie Van Helsing. It apparently covers Van Helsing's hunt for Mr. Hyde, the end of which is where we come in during the movie. The trailer doesn't show much though.
Vivendi Games Trailer - A two-minute trailer for The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, a game for the XBox. This looks not too bad at all and the animation and CG sequences look good.
Overall
As a prequel to The Chronicles Of Riddick, filling in the five year gap from Pitch Black, then this doesn't really work. Animation fans might enjoy it but it is a pretty short feature, however the package of extras adds some interesting value for anyone intending to follow this up with The Chronicles Of Riddick.
It's really only a random filler episode and you could easily bypass it without missing much. On top of that, given the short run time and few extras, it doesn't really rate the full RRP and Riddick fans would be advised to wait until the price drops or go for a rental.
The Trailer is Available here
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