Bridging the gap from "Pitch Black" to "The Chronicles of Riddick", "Dark Fury" is an interesting enough exercise in animated story-telling. Vin Diesel, Rhiana Griffith and Keith David return as the survivors of the first installment, this time coming up against baddies of a more human nature, not counting multi-tentacled waving aliens.

This is a good looking animated movie, short but containing some reasonably memorable action set pieces and some unexpectedly bloody violence.

7 out of 10. Riddick fans will find this a treat but this may leave some viewers cold.

I thought Pitch Black was enjoyable enough but was left entirely unimpressed by Chronicles of Riddick so what chance did an animated short have? Not bad actually.

It tells the rather short story of what happened to Riddick, Imam and Jack after they escaped the original movie. Picked up by mercenaries it appears they have gotten out of one mess and straight into another.

Made by Peter Chung I have to say the films biggest weakness is the animation style, it really is quite dreadful. It's half way between a cheaply made Saturday morning cartoon and the excellent Monkey Dust (2003). I just couldn't get past how crappy it looks, in some places more than others.

The story is rushed (As it needed to be considering its length) and rather uninspired but it's construction and competent voice cast save it.

Diesel and David return to add credibility to the whole affair which feels more like a cashgrab than anything else.

Though not blown away with the Riddick franchise, it hasn't entirely been without it's notable moments. Off the top of my head that's three down two to go.

The Good:

Voice cast

The Bad:

Highly average stuff as a whole

Not keen on the animation style

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Mentioning Monkey Dust has got me all nostalgic, damn that was a good show

Dark Fury picks up right where Pitch Black ended, with Riddick, Jack and Imam being captured by mercenaries, the leader of whom has some strange and sadistic intentions in regards to Riddick. In a bit of a baffling business move, Universal decided to release this after The Chronicles of Riddick. If they had released it a week or two earlier, some of the questions posed in Riddick that confused a good number of people would have been clearly answered. This short gives us the answer of some key events that occurred in the five years between Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick, as well as some insight into why Riddick, Jack and Imam interact the way they do in CoR. It also introduces the character Toombs, who plays a key role in Riddick's plight.

Aside from its value as an answer provider, Dark Fury is also a highly entertaining piece of animation. The graphics are top notch, the storyline is interesting, and the action is very well done. The plot moves along at a quick pace and it is a lot of fun to watch Riddick kick some @$$ in animated form. I highly recommend seeing this before watching The Chronicles of Riddick, not only is it a good movie but it also explains some key elements of the story.