Entertaining, intelligent sci-fi

Rating: 8/10 (12 November 2000)

Pitch Black is one of the most entertaining science fiction movies I've ever seen. The script was surprisingly intelligent. It would have been easy to make a film about monsters on an unknown planet be extremely stupid, but the screenwriters managed to avoid this. Every character is well written, there are no "cookie-cutter" characters. They are all 3 dimensional people with good and bad traits.
While all of the acting in the movie is good, no one was as good as Vin Diesel as Riddick, the escaped convict that the stranded passengers turn to for help. Even when he's not speaking, he commands attention. Diesel makes it clear that Riddick is only out to help himself. Only near the end do we see some signs of caring for others in him, but even these are minimal. Diesel never lets us forget that Riddick is a murderer.
Technically, the film is also very good. The lighting was interesting before the darkness comes. There are 3 suns around the planet, so the lighting is a little brighter than normal. And at one point the screen has a kind of blue tint to it, apparently because the bluish sun was higher in the sky. It's a nice effect. Also the editing is very quick and frantic, especially during action sequences. The crash scene at the beginning is especially tense due to the editing.
Does Pitch Black teach us any great lessons about life? No. But who cares? It's an intelligently written, well directed, and well acted movie. It's by no means the best movie ever, but it's definitely an entertaining and thrilling ride.
Rating: 9/10