Just like the animated spin-offs from 'The Matrix' and 'Van Helsing ', we were also given a small animated feature showing us the events leading up to The Riddick sequel. This short was a sequel to the original 'Pitch Black' but was it really required?
We see Riddick and the other two survivors leaving the dark planet of the original film. In transit to 'New Mecca' they get captured by some mercs led by the evil villainess 'Antonia Chillingsworth' (Chillingsworth...chilling, scary huh), who likes to capture famous criminals and put them on display in her ship. She does this by freezing them basically, freezing them into statues, a bit 'Batman and Robin-ish', a bit cheesy, but hey.
Now this isn't too old really, it's only 2004, but I was amazed at how poor the CGI sequences were. There aren't too many, mainly a few ships, some internal corridors and one or two creatures. But it must be said that they look pretty awful to be honest, really obvious and very plastic-looking, quite shocked. The sequences with Riddick's ship look like an amateur did them very quickly, so plain and lifeless!
Other than that, the animation is nice and quirky, not overly fantastic, but it does the job. Hard to criticise art and animation styles because everything is more so a matter of opinion and, of course, some styles can be deliberately hokey/simple/rough looking. This style is typical anime style with a slightly surreal edge; the characters are drawn in exaggeration at times, overly defined or amplified, if you will.
What is nice is the fact all the main characters are voiced by the real film cast to give that extra layer of canon, coolness and fanboyism. I mean, let's face it, no one can really replace Vin Diesel as Riddick right? The story ticks along fine, a bit simple but it's OK. We see the intro of 'Toombs' which is a minor highlight really, not particularly important but hey, it's there...a small token mainly for the sequel of course.
Overall I found this pretty average really, nothing too special, by the numbers in terms of both animation and excitement. It didn't really need to be made in all honesty. It serves no real purpose other than to keep fans happy until the second was released, and does it do that? Well, maybe I guess. A bit short also I might add, but at least it served up plenty of blood and gore, which always looks good in these anime adventures. This animation does the odd things a film can't because the bigwigs want a film for the mass audience. We've all heard that before right? This has more free rein.
6/10
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