Derivative, but fun.

Rating: 7/10 (25 October 2013)

Co-writer / director David Twohy doesn't set out to reinvent the wheel here with this routinely plotted but visually striking and effective sci-fi / horror picture. He keeps it interesting with his main character, an enigmatic stranger named Riddick (the well cast, imposing Vin Diesel) with a dangerous past. In fact, the main characters are all interesting in their own way, the good and the evil alike. There's some very good atmosphere to be enjoyed here - this was partly filmed in the desolate Coober Pedy region of Australia - and Twohy creates solid suspense and some good thrills.
A spacecraft transporting several civilians and the ex-con Riddick is seriously damaged while in flight and is forced to crash land on a nearby planet. Among the passengers and crew are pilot Carolyn Fry (lovely Radha Mitchell), a "cop" named William Johns (Cole Hauser), a holy man, Imam (Keith David), and a kid, Jack (Rhiana Griffith). They're warned about Riddick by Johns, but he turns out not to be their big problem: the planet is warmed by three suns, there's about to be the first solar eclipse in 22 years, and monsters who thrive in the darkness will be free to stalk these unlucky survivors.
In his first big starring role, Diesel showed that he had what it took to be a star. He has a commanding presence, as does the consistently reliable David. Mitchells' performance made a fan out of this viewer, as she spends the balance of the film trying to atone for an earlier decision she made. Lewis Fitz-Gerald supplies some comedy relief as Paris; sexy Claudia Black, John Moore, and Simon Burke round out the cast. The visual effects are generally pretty good, the creatures are imaginatively designed, and the film has a respectable pace going for it. These help to make "Pitch Black" a good if not great example of its genre.
Seven out of 10.