STORY: Hunt for the intergalactic convict ‘Riddick’, who can see in the dark, continues in this third installment of the sci-fi series. REVIEW: The film captures exploits of Riddick ( Vin Diesel), after he is deceived and left for dead on an obscure planet full of alien predators. All he knows about his existence is the fact that he’s not on Furya. To add to his woes, he is also being chased by bounty hunters, who want him dead. The tough guy’s fight for survival forms the story. Do the antics of a lone Riddick marooned on a hostile planet manage to hold your interest? It does to a certain extent, especially in the opening scenes, where you see Riddick playing a deadly hide-and-seek with the murderous creatures. However, eventually, the storyline ends up free-floating as if lost in space, just like its lead character. After a while, the killings and order of events start looking monotonous, making the film seem more of a low-budget slasher movie than a sci-fi thriller.

Those who like horror might like the gore – chopping of heads and bodies but the profanities hurled at women, homosexuals are a bit unsettling, even given the context and genre of the film. Riddick solely relies on the bald & beefy Diesel’s macho appearance and deep-raspy voice. No effort has gone into penning a substantial screenplay or making the visual effects look better. Dark visuals of barren, lifeless planet fail to create the desired impact. Nothing really instills fear. We wonder if even fans of the franchise, had high expectations from this sequel, given the mediocrity of the previous film (The Chronicles of Riddick). Everything about the film looks as artificial as the glowing-eyes of its central character, barring the cool bikes.