Danger Will Robinson, Danger

Rating: Null/10 (14 April 2002)

A rocket ship crash lands on a desolate planet. Here the ships occupants must learn to survive the elements, each other, and some really nasty bat-like creatures that come out when it's dark.
Basically it's your routine action/thriller with some sci-fi trappings thrown in as frosting. The structure seems to work on a timing pattern that spits out a new catastrophe every two minutes. The first one comes almost immediately, even before we know who the heck these people are. You almost wish that with each new calamity everybody's favorite robot would come out and warn "Danger Will Robinson Danger". Not so much to give a break in the action, but to at least warn you to it's Speedy Gonzales pacing. Of course if you do blink and miss one of these 'danger moments' you don't need to worry since another one will follow precisely one minute and twenty seconds later.
The cast is made up of purely stock characters. Their sole purpose seems to be as darts, which are mechanically and constantly thrown into one terrifying scenario after another. When the tension needs tuning they simply respond with looks and sounds of horror. When the tension needs loosening they simply belt out a wise guy like one liner. Of course it does investigate a certain degree of 'darkness' to their personalities, but this attempt at multi-level is simple in nature. There is nothing profound or philosophical here, which should be a turn off to most hardened sci-fi fans.
If you have seen ALIEN of PREDATOR then you have essentially seen this. Of course if those films are your drug than this movie can be your fix. Despite it's very obvious mechanics it does strap you into it's roller coaster ride and give you some excitement. It's only after the ride is over and the seat belts unfastened do you realize how typical this Hollywood trip really is.
Fans of this picture will pretty much tell you that the best thing about it is Vin Diesel. He performs a very refreshing, very engaging sort of anti-hero, the likes of which haven't been seen for a long while. This pretty much is HIS vehicle and he drives it quite nicely. Good for Diesel fans and for those who might not yet be familiar with his work.