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Parents' Guide to

The Chronicles of Riddick

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Very violent, brainless explosion movie.

Movie PG-13 2004 90 minutes
The Chronicles of Riddick Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 13+

Based on 2 parent reviews

Bandersnatch
Bandersnatch Adult
September 21, 2020
age 13+

Great Story, bad Pacing and Scope

This movie had a good message, story, characters, but was muddled by it's slow screenplay, scope and 135 minute runtime. I mean Riddick's character almost spent his 45% of time in prison, when he could easily just blast through the wall with his clever and patient mind, he tamed a tiger-like creature, reunited with Jack and spent his other time uniting other helpers. Performance was average, except Urban's(his accent can never stop to thrill me! XD). Overall this movie had a little more violence than a normal PG-13 movie and had many sexual innuendos(especially during Vaako's wife's scenes). Swearing and drugs were almost below average with only one f-word and little occasional drinking.

This title has:

Great messages
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
gamenerd323
gamenerd323 Adult
November 10, 2009
age 13+

One of the most graphic PG-13's ever.

Violent movie about a religous group trying to convert humanity to their religon. The movie has little blood but strong violence, one F-bomb and decently long scene of "tounge kissing". But it is no as bad as ptch black. And only the people who play the game will like it.
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Pitch Black was an outer space horror film about a group stranded on a planet with some very scary creatures. One member of the group was Riddick (Vin Diesel), a convict being transported to prison. His ability to see in the dark made him the group's best hope for survival. In this sequel, Riddick (Diesel again) is once more the best hope for survival, this time of just about everyone. An evil race called the Necromancers is capturing planets as it moves toward its interplanetary version of something between Mecca and Valhalla. They offer the inhabitants of each planet two choices -- surrender or death -- and they don't really care which one they pick. The leader of the Necromancers, Lord Marshal (Colm Feore) has been told that he will be killed by a member of the Furia race, so he has ordered all of them killed. But one remains -- Riddick -- and as soon as he says, "It's not my fight," you know he'll be opening up a can of whup-ass on just about everyone pretty soon or it would be a pretty short movie.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2 ):
Kids say (7 ):

THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK almost makes it as a brainless popcorn summer explosion movie. The movie's graphics are very striking, especially the neo-fascist baroque of the Necromancer's massive weapons, armor, machinery, and monuments, and the enormous underground prison on a planet with temperature swings of hundreds of degrees. It's nice to see someone thinking up advanced technology that's not computer based. Instead of digital read-outs there are some fascinating mechanical contraptions. There are also some good action sequences and some cool special effects.

But the script is a dumbed-down version of The Matrix, complete with characters who are hooked into soul-destroying machinery through their necks, with a little bit of (heaven help us) Battlefield Earth thrown in for bad measure. The names are so unimaginatively obvious they border on parody, with the angry race called the Furia and the hot planet called Crematoria. The dialogue is dreadful. Thandiwe Newton plays the Lady Macbeth-style scheming wife of one of Lord Marshall's henchmen with a space-age mullet. She looks lovely but gives a ludicrously over-the-top performance.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the inspiration for some of the movie's terms like "Necromancer" and "Crematoria." Where does the movie draw inspiration from? Do you notice any literary or historical references?

  • What is the appeal of intensely violent movies like this one? What kind of emotional experience does it offer viewers?

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