The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury (2004)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This animation is about Riddick and the gang boarding a spacecraft to fight a lady with a hobby to collect the most wanted criminals around the universe.It's amazing how much plot and action they have packed in in just 30 minutes. The pace is fast, and there is always something to keep the adrenaline pumping.The action sequences are cool and very realistic. If it was to be transformed into a real film with actors, making a carbon copy would not look out of place. Usually for animation spin-offs they don't get the start to voice it, but in here I am impressed and glad that they got Vin Diesel to voice Riddick.Even though I forgot the plots of the two Riddick films, I still enjoyed "The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury" as a stand-along animation.

I have never had more conflicted feelings about any animator. Peter Chung, creator of Aeon Flux brings us an interquel, Dark Fury to the films Pitch Black (a low budget sci-fi suspense story) and The Chronicles of Riddick (an action-packed sci-fi adventure). Dark Fury adds its own unique flavour, while retaining the greatness of the series. Chung has a very interesting style and I thought it translated well on screen.The only one who didn't deliver as well however, surprisingly, was Riddick himself who delivered an unbelievable amount of redundant one-liners during the film and I did not have as much respect for him, like when I watched Chronicles.Regardless, this is an excellent follow-up to Pitch Black.

Dark Fury it is supposed to be lost link between Pitch Black and Chronicles Of Riddick, but It's been a while since I watched Pitch Black, so I don't remember how did it end. Anyway, it's a 30 minutes animation movie that mixes old school drawing' and digital techniques. The fans of this kind of stuff will be satisfied. As for me, I didn't get it. This time Riddick will have to beat a so powerful women and her servants (or something like that).So, I only recommend Dark Fury to those followers of PB series, and manga/animation lovers (in general).*My rate: 5/10

Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury: 5/10: At 30 minutes this stand alone short resembles a Saturday morning cartoon rather than a plot bridge between Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick. (And Lord knows if any movie needed a plot bridge it was Chronicles of Riddick.) The animation is a mixed bag with a lot of the 3d spaceship work leaving a bit to be desired (to shiny for one thing). And while the voice work is authentic, the story is a true one off throwaway. (Hammy and very unlikely villains happen to pop by.) The story may be a throwaway but it does at least give it points for being coherent. (And Lord knows if any movie needed a coherent story it was Chronicles of Riddick) The action scenes are generally well done with a little violence thrown in for good measure. Certainly one gets the gut feeling that Dark Fury could have been a lot worse. Despite the decent amount of extras the DVD doesn't really work as a stand-alone product. It would however have made a fine second or third disk in the Chronicles of Riddick or even Pitch Black DVD releases.