The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)

A lean monster movie about a guy who sees in the dark turned into a space opera with a reported $105 to $120 million budget, a holy army, a prophecy and Judi Dench drifting through walls. The Chronicles of Riddick is what happens when a sequel decides the first movie was too small. The Necromongers are a great look, all spiky armor and cathedrals in space, with nothing to say beyond convert or else. Colm Feore’s Lord Marshal glides around like a bad dream with a cape. Karl Urban and Thandiwe Newton play a scheming couple straight out of Shakespeare, and they’re the most fun people on screen. Vin Diesel still owns the role, all low voice and lower patience, and the prison break on Crematoria, where sunrise turns the ground into a griddle, is the best part. It made $115.9 million worldwide. A 4.1 because the world is cool and the story is a vocabulary test. $187.82 says you kill the lights tonight, try to walk to the kitchen by memory and lose a fight with a doorframe.

What works: The production design is bold and strange, and the Crematoria escape, racing the sunrise, is a genuinely fun set piece.

What doesn’t: The plot drowns in lore and grand titles, and Riddick’s loner charm gets lost inside a big, self-serious space empire.

Who it’s for: Vin Diesel fans and sci-fi lovers who enjoy giant costumes, gothic spaceships and a lot of made-up words.