IN space, no one can hear you scream... which is a blessing in writer-director David Twohy's high octane sequel to Pitch Black.

Half the cast shriek themselves silly in the face of deep space Armageddon, while the sound effects department unleashes a blitzkrieg of deafening explosions to drown out their pained cries.

Amoral escaped convict Riddick (Vin Diesel), the final member of a warrior race called the Furions, is still on the run from bounty hunters.

He arranges a covert meeting with his ageing cleric mentor, Inam (Keith David), whose home planet is under threat from an unholy army called the Necromongers, led by the demonic Lord Marshall (Colm Feore).

When Aereon (Judi Dench), a mysterious envoy from a race of ethereal beings, anoints Riddick as a potential saviour, the big man begrudgingly takes on the Necromongers almost single-handed, with sparing help from Kyra (Alexa Davalos), the teenage girl - now a grown woman - he saved in the first film.

The Chronicles of Riddick is a loud and brash beast, pumped to within an inch of its life.

Just remember to leave your brains at home - the screenplay and most of the characters certainly have.

The film's primary concern - its only concern - is cramming as many slam-bang action sequences as possible into two hours.

Diesel barks and snarls every line in that deep, resonating voice which sends half of the Necromonger hordes running.

Those that dare trade blows with Riddick are despatched in frenetically edited fight sequences, enlivened with pyrotechnics and some gratuitous computer-generated special effects.

Some of the digital trickery doesn't pass muster, however: a pair of hell hounds, found galloping around a subterranean prison, don't look remotely lifelike.

Diesel is physically imposing and oozes charisma. He also knows how to deliver a deadpan one-liner.

The rest of the cast, including Oscar favourite Dench, make the most of their two-dimensional characters.

Logic has no place in Riddick'suniverse.

When he strays on to the planet of Crematoria, which suffers daily sun storms with temperatures in excess of 700 degrees Celsius, the hulking hero avoids being fried simply by hiding behind a rock.

Thank goodness there's another fist-fight or edge-of-seat chase just around the corner to prevent us dwelling on the plot holes.

You could pilot one of the Necromonger's gigantic spaceships through them.

RATING: 5/10