Surprisingly good movie

Rating: 9/10 (2 September 2008)

I don't say surprisingly because I don't like SF movies; more because cheap SF movies tend to be kind of bad -- and they certainly never challenge social norms.
But then comes Pitch Black: four Muslim characters who are not terrorists (I'm looking at you, True Lies, and any season of 24), plus, and this is the biggie, a movie that acknowledges that women menstruate! I haven't seen that since ... actually, I've never seen that ever, unless you count embarrassing high school "Now You Have Become A Woman" movies.
Also, Vin Diesel has never been hotter. Call me shallow, but those arms make me (when I'm not actually menstruating) (ok, I lie, pretty much all the time) those arms make me go squee. I'm only human.
Anyhoo, I'm sure that there are people who will compare this movie to Alien, but really, it's completely different, and it's well worth seeing if you enjoy the SF thriller genre, or, indeed, if you just enjoy your basic thriller that's well paced, has hot guys, chicks who kick arse.
One small criticism: I felt that it was a little bit anti-Australian. And to be honest, I'm a little tired of the way Australians are portrayed in the movies and in the main stream media. Some of us prefer to de-nasal our accent. And not to die horribly in the first ten minutes. Just saying.