Shine a Light!

Rating: 8/10 (13 March 2019)

Nearly 20 years on, Pitch Black still shines as a compelling, original piece of science-fiction film-making, which ended up spawning 2 and a bit sequels. Of real interest is seeing the introduction and early positioning of our favourite Furyan, Richard P Riddick, as very much an anti-hero for much of the movie's length. In the sequels, the spotlight positions him more as a traditional hero. Pitch Black is also notable for both a fine performance from Radha Mitchell as Pilot Carolyn Fry and the contribution of the desolate terrain around the South Australian desert town of Coober Pedy, very effectively passing itself off as the three-sunned barren planet.
Indeed though Pitch Black is ostensibly an American production, it has a very significant Australian element, besides the locations. Radha Mitchell and many of the cast members are Australian, as is musical director Graeme Revell, not forgetting the very talented cinematographer David Eggby. Mention of the cast members reminds me that Pitch Black is much more of an ensemble piece than subsequent Riddick episodes. As such the various characters are given differing back stories which do pique our interest. No one, least of all Riddick, is totally heroic. Even Mitchell's Fry (her best screen role IMHO), contemplates ditching her passengers, to better ensure her personal survival chances, in the film's harrowing opening scenes.
The story, though reminiscent of parts of Alien, confidently treads its own survivalist narrative path, once the damaged space ship crash lands unexpectedly mid-journey. Good to see, the creatures when they appear aren't Alien inspired clones, like so many other examples from creature features over the past few decades, such as the very recent, disappointing Life. The spine-tingling night time odyssey back to the repaired drop ship in the film's second half is a mini-masterpiece of suspense, pitting the disparate, rag tag humans (+Riddick) against their horrendous extra terrestrial hosts.
Vin Diesel arguably has achieved greater fame and financial success through his involvement in the Fast and Furious franchise. But for me, up till the present, the most interesting character he has brought to the screen is the always enigmatic Riddick, as first seen in Pitch Black.