"Riddick" - The Sci-Fi Story of a Man and His Dog

We went out to the theater last night to catch the 7:30 showing of "Riddick."  "Riddick" is the third movie in the series that started with "Pitch Black" starring Vin Diesel as a murdering escape convict somewhere out in space.  Much like "Pitch Black", he is again fighting alien monsters on a deserted planet.  Well, it worked in "Pitch Black" and it works again here.  We enjoyed the movie, but I got more than I bargained for when I sat down.

"Riddick" is one of those movies that does more than one thing.  Sure, the main story line was Riddick and his fight to stay alive, focusing on his struggles with both the alien creatures and the mercenary crews that come looking to take him out.  The thing that I didn't see coming was the relationship that Riddick builds with a creature on the planet that is basically a big dog.  He gets it as a puppy and raises it up to be his loyal bodyguard.  They go everywhere and do everything together.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!   SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

So when one of the mercenaries kills Riddick's dog, it's a real emotional moment in the movie.  Okay, there wasn't anyone crying in the theater, but still, you know what I mean.  What started out as a kill or be killed thriller, turned into "Old Yellar" for a little while there in the midle.  I wasn't expecting space dogs at all!  It was a touching story thrown into the sci-fi killfest and it worked.

They took the time to make Riddick a full character, not just a the killing machine that he obviously is.  It's easy for the characters in these movies to be so one dimensional that you're just watching for the fights and battles.  Don't get me wrong though, I love those movies, I just saying that a little more character development would not be a bad thing sometimes.

At the point in the movie when Riddick could have easily sacrificed his dog to get away from the people after him, he chose not to.  Like many of us would, he put his life in peril trying to save the life of his friend.  He ultimately failed, but that's beside the point.  It was a little thing to do, but it worked and made Riddick more human than he could have been.  

If you're looking for fighting and action don't be discouraged, there's plenty of that.  Just don't be surprised when you go check out "Riddick", if you get more than you expect.