Pitch Hopeless

Rating: 4/10 (1 September 2019)

Topline is that if you are a Vin Diesel fan, don't bother reading this review; just go and watch the movie. If not, read why you shouldn't waste your time on this.
This is a slipshod action/adventure science fiction movie that does neither science nor fiction right. Get this straight through you before you sit down to watch it: This movie was made for one and one reason only, which is to massage the larger-than-life survivalist persona of Richard B. Riddick (the comic character) and the bossy persona of Vin Diesel (the actor). Everything else is in deference. Fan worshippers of Riddick and Diesel will doubtlessly be enthused--even fascinated--as other things probably won't matter to them, while the rest will be disappointed.
Plot: A spaceship carrying the prisoner Riddick crash-lands on an unknown planet where survivors face-off with herds of alien creatures who hunt only at night. Guess what, a solar eclipse is just around the corner.
Needless to say, Riddick does the lion's work of fighting the aliens and dispatches them to their deaths with corny disdain and one-liners while others end up being meal. Invincibility is always forced upon the lead role whenever it becomes larger than the whole movie.
Visual effects aren't much with first half significantly better than the second. Alien design is nothing to moon over either. For most part, the feeling that I was staring at a cardboard set and not an exoplanet hung heavy on my mind. Poor job by camera department.
Most characters are boring and have nothing useful to contribute to the story. Dialog is average with few one-liner comebacks allocated to Riddick.
Movie's plot is nothing fresh; entire Alien franchise was built upon it. Problem is it has too many holes. Rules are set in the beginning for planet's environment and alien creatures but are subsequently flouted with impunity. Writing is banal and barren.
Worst part of the movie is its action sequences which suffer from shaky camera and too many cut scenes, making it impossible to make sense of anything on screen until the flurry of movements stops. This is a deceptive tactic that many filmmakers use to conceal their lack of skills and imagination. When you don't know how to choreograph a scene, bury the action with fast moving visuals. Easy.
VERDICT: 4/10 (DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME!)
(Watched on Netflix in HD and 5.1 surround on 01.09.2019)