'Riddick' Review Roundup: Vin Diesel's New Film Receives Mixed Reaction

On Sept. 6 "Riddick" will be released nationwide.

The film, starring Vin Diesel, tells the story of Riddick who finds himself up against an alien race of predators. As a result, Riddick activates an emergency beacon that alerts two ships: one carrying a new breed of mercenary, and the other captained by a man from Riddick's past.

The new film recently premiered and received a mixed reception. Justin Lowe of the Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Faithful to the template if not the spirit of previous installments, this flabby second sequel barely manages to advance Riddick's considerable personal mythology."

Keith Staskiewicz from Entertainment Weekly gave the movie a C+. "Twohy succeeds in staging moments both tense and funny, but they're fewer and farther between than one would hope, and the dialogue is served up with a heaping helping of cheese, especially when delivered in Diesel's low-frequency growl," wrote Staskiewicz. 

Tom Huddleston from Time Out also disliked the movie and stated, "It's flavourless: the aliens are unscary and easily despatched, Vin's too silent to be interesting, and the other characters are either dull or offensive."

The Wrap's Alonso Duralde was also negative. "If you were to make a comedy about an actor who makes cheesy sci-fi action movies, and you needed a hilarious clip of his work that underscored the awfulness of his output, just about any 30-second segment of 'Riddick' would do the trick."

However, a couple of critics gave the movie favorable reviews. Scott Foundas of Variety enjoyed the movie and stated, "An improbable but very enjoyable sequel that recaptures much of the stripped-down intensity of Diesel and director David Twohy's franchise starter 'Pitch Black.'"

Screen International's Mark Adams also gave the film a positive review: "A dark and bloody genre film that delivers in terms of monsters, knives and a healthy bit of gore."

Universal is slated to release the movie in 2,800 theaters. "Riddick" is rated R.