Pitch Black - An Enjoyable SCIFI/Action flick

Rating: 8/10 (14 July 2006)

Pitch Black is a very unusual movie. While action at its core, with Vin Diesel as Riddick (as Bruce Willis was to John McClane, Ah-nold Schwarzenegger was to the Terminator, Sylvester Stallone was to Rambo, and (more notably) as Sigourney Weaver was to Ellen Ripley), this movie somehow take a generic spin on SCIFI and make it incredibly captivating.
While I thought the beginning was kind of slow to start and a little "meh" considering the writers threw in Muslim stereotypes and other generic spaceship cadets, with Riddick being the only one who stood out as the more interesting one out of the bunch, that all changes 15 minutes into the film. As the movie stretches out and reveals what exactly is going on, the cast becomes more captivating. Cole Hauser (William J. Johns), Keith David (Abu al-Walid), and Rhiana Griffith (Jackie) are the ones I grew to like over the course of the movie.
The acting is not particularly strong thanks to the weak performances given by supporting cast members like Radha Mitchell (who's current claim to fame among fans is 'Rose Da Silva' in the 2006 Silent Hill movie) while Vin seems to come out okay and pop out the occasional 'one-liner' joke when he's not trying to be the "cold-as-steel" badass.
One of the things that I liked were the different hues used to portray the different parts of the world (which is inhibited by three different suns). I imagine some people wouldn't like that and will find it distracting, but I wouldn't agree. I think it gives the movie an interesting "edge" and makes it a little more captivating to look at.
By the end of the movie, I came to really like it. Despite the fact I didn't care for the sequel, Chronicles, Pitch Black actually made me walk away with satisfaction. While it's not the best SCIFI film i've ever seen, and it didn't have the best story or action either, for what it was and how it performed it...it was all worth the entire view. I recommend a rental, if anything.