A fun, disposable sci-fi flick

Rating: 6/10 (27 November 2004)

I'm not a fan of Vin Diesel. His ego has inflated to a size his talent cannot match. He's better off in smaller movies and in smaller roles. I refuse to watch utter crap like xXx or A Man Apart but he's better than average in Pitch Black.
He plays Richard B. Riddick, a convict for massive, infinite crimes that are never defined in the slightest way. This was probably done to add mystery but I say it's bad writing. He's being transported on a spaceship on his way to spacejail but the ship crashes on a desert planet (as the original series of Star Trek proved, most planets are deserts) and he escapes.
But hold on, the planet is just entering an extended eclipse that only happens every 22 years. And when pitch blackness falls upon the nameless rock zillions of hungry bat-type thingies come out of hibernation to gobble-up whoever they can. So guess who the motely crew of survivors call on to help them.
Most of the film is simply going through the motions of killing the characters off one by one and it's nothing new. Sure it distracts one's attention for 110 minutes but it's nothing new or astonishing.
The best thing about the film is the presence of Keith David. Let's be honest, the man is 10 different kinds of cool. And he acts Mr Silly Voice off the screen very easily.
The DVD is in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby/DTS 5.1 sound and a bunch of extras I simply do not care about.