Decent Sci-Fi Fare

Rating: 6/10 (6 May 2001)

Like the original `Alien', `Pitch Black' is a sci-fi/horror hybrid -- a group of people in the far-flung future find themselves confront by an alien menace in hostile, unknown surroundings. `Pitch Black' clearly owes a lot of its influences to Ridley Scott's `Alien', but it never sinks so low as to blatantly rip `Alien' off -- `Pitch Black' has a couple of neat touches that make it stand out. However, it's typical movie cliches that drag `Pitch Black' back towards the realm of mediocrity, and keep it from being a really good film.
Somewhere in the distant reaches of space, a freak meteor storm knocks a star freighter off course, sending the freighter crashing to the surface of an unknown planet. The survivors, which include pilot Carolyn Fry (Radha Mitchell), bounty hunter Johns (Cole Hauser), and Riddick (Vin Diesel), a sociopathic killer who was being transported back to prison, discover strange alien creatures lurking beneath the surface of the planet. These creatures, which cannot stand light, have a taste for blood . . . and soon, they'll be swarming the surface, as a rare eclipse that sends the entire planet into darkness is only hours away.
The story, while uneven, has some neat moments -- the inclusion of the Muslim leader Imam (Keith David) and his ragtag band of religious followers added some unexpected dimensions to the film; and the way the kid Jack (Rhiana Griffith) develops a macabre form of hero-worship for the killer Riddick, while disturbing, is probably somewhat realistic. What truly brings `Pitch Black' down a few notches is the sheer number of unbelievable things that keep piling on top of each other. The crashed ship just happens to have landed on a sun-drenched planet mere hours before an eclipse that only occurs every twenty-two years is set to begin. The ship also just happens to be holding a ruthless killer, said ruthless killer just happens to have surgically-adjusted eyes that can see perfectly in the dark . . . the list goes on and on and on. A few of these would be fine -- willing suspension of disbelief is all part of the movie-going experience -- but after the first dozen or so, it's sheer overkill. Any small, cool original moments created in `Pitch Black' are inevitably lost amidst the big, steaming piles of unbelievable nonsense.
As Riddick, Vin Diesel injects a large amount of coolness in `Pitch Black'. He gives the character enough nuances to keep things from getting boring. Radhia Mitchell was also quite good as the pilot Carolyn, who's forcibly thrust into being the leader after the captain dies in the initial crash. Her struggles in taking charge of the survivors is very believable, and very good. The rest . . . well, they're predictable stereotypes. They do a good job, but their every action is incredibly predictable, making `Pitch Black' a lot less tense than it should've been.
Of note is David Twohy's excellent direction: the way the planet is initially bleached blindingly bone-white after the crash adds a real sense of desolation to the desert plant, and serves to contrast nicely, with, well, the pitch black darkness of the eclipse. He keeps things moving along at a fairly quick pace, adding enough tension to constantly keep things interesting. The idea of keeping the CGI creature mostly unseen in the dark is also a good one -- they're a lot creepier that way, and by using them prominently, they might've looked lame if the CGI effects weren't perfect.
A pretty respectable thrill ride; definitely check it out if you're a fan of sci-fi films. Grade: B-