A tasty little snack, anyone?

Rating: 8/10 (31 May 2001)

I bought the DVD of Pitch Black yesterday, without seeing the film before hand and so far have watched it twice, which is unusual for a film. I am normally not very complementary about most of the films I watch and had heard mixed revues of the film but I must say that I thought that it was an extremely enjoyable film to watch. The plot is definitely a no brainer, with most of the tension being character driven. All the actors in the film are excellent, especially Vin Diesel playing the convict Riddick, who has to be the best anti-hero since Snake Pliskin in Escape from New York.

The films plot reminds me of two films, Aliens and Deep Blue see, almost as good as the former and far better than the latter. Visually the film has some amazing moments and David Twohy can be extremely proud of what he has put together. Special praise has to go to the David Eggby and also lighting department, for the excellent cinematography and lighting. The editing is good, but their are no really scary moments which would make someone jump out of their seats. The computer stuff is done extremely well and is never aloud to overwhelm the film or over shadow the actors. The fight sequences are well put together and extremely exciting, especially when Riddick goes one on one, with one of the creatures, maybe the highlight of the movie. Praise, also has to go to Graeme Revell for putting an amazing score to the film, which I now cannot get out of my head.
Overall, this is the movie that Alien 3 and 4 should have been, its exciting, thrilling and also stunning to watch. Pitch Black also shows what can be done with a limited budget, take notice Hollywood. Definitely a film to watch. The DVD also has a couple of extremely good commentaries by the cast and crew, which are very useful to all the film students out there.