The Franchising Machine

...and The Chronicles of Riddick

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The Age of the Overblown Blockbuster

One of the perks of being a mid-1990s millennial is remembering the world before the streaming revolution while also reckoning with the consequences of this technology renaissance. On Friday nights, I distinctly remember renting movies with my family. There were spy dramas, animated family films, raunchy comedies, charming romantic comedies, period pieces, and explosion-heavy action films. Once upon a time in America, people had to have physical copies of video home systems (VHS) or digital versatile discs (DVDs) to access these titles.

I know. How retro.

The Chronicles of Riddick, directed by David Twohy, who also directed the prequel Pitch Black (2000), was released in 2004. It is one of those films that tells a story about the movie industry’s changes after the home video revolution and in an age of high-concept blockbuster films. Though this film was released to mixed-to-negative reviews, it gained a cult following thanks to the availability of home viewing opportunities, especially among science fiction and fantasy enthusiasts.

The story is straightforward as a prophecy now calls on Vin Diesel’s character, Riddick, to kill a fascistic religious zealot and space tyrant. That’s right. Sounds like an excuse for expansive set pieces, explosive spectacles, and a budget of over $100 million. While Pitch Black was small and character-driven, The Chronicles of Riddick is grandiose and SFX-driven. The contrast of these films is a testament to the evolutions of the film industry from the late 1990s to the mid 2000s.

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Check out my last post about Pitch Black:

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Everything Big

The late ’90s and early 2000s were filled with mid-budget genre films—horror, sci-fi, action—that succeeded through strong storytelling and, of course, home video, think The Matrix (1999) and Blade (1998). But by 2004, Hollywood was obsessed with big. Everything had to be a blockbuster, even if it didn’t have a proven audience to justify the costs. Chronicles of Riddick fits this era perfectly: visually stunning and lore-heavy while failing to tell a coherent story that justifies the elaborate scale. Oftentimes this happened with lower concept action films from the late 90s. They would be turned into high concept sequels while losing the soul of its foundational film. The process was arguably synonymous to this era of film franchises.

As a quintessential product of the early aughts franchising machine, this film has a lot going on in the background, from an ancient prophecy to a secret lineage, all while moving between different character arcs in a sometimes rough fashion. At times, it is exhilarating and certainly offers a level of escapism. But at other times, you are left underwhelmed. I felt this way, particularly when considering how some of the women's leads were written and structured in a (to me) disappointing manner. Nell Minow of Common Sense Media put it well in 2010: the film “almost makes it as a brainless popcorn summer explosion movie.”

Not all mid 2000s blockbusters can be Spider-Man 2 (2004).

How Far We’ve Come

I love considering how far the film industry has come. It was a genuine creative novelty at the turn of the century and grew into a computer-generated spectacular by the millennium. Of course, there are still films that span every genre. However, the circumstances that had to converge to enable a big money gambit that produces The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) or Van Helsing (2004) perfectly depict the larger forces dominating our world. For better and worse, we indulge in stylized mediocrity that can be analyzed through multiple viewings thanks to seemingly endless supply chains.

My viewing of this film piqued my interest and engaged my natural need to explore ideas through a fantastical lens. But it also reminded me how easy it is to get distracted in a world of limitless media.

Next time, let’s take a break from this universe and briefly take a different direction.