Cool idea, not so cool execution

Rating: 7/10 (8 January 2001)

There are a lot of people who think this a great sci-fi flick, why is that? Because Vin Diesel flexes his muscles very prominently on screen, because of the cool photography or leading actress Radha Mitchell. Or could it be that they like the idea of the movie and not so much the movie itself.
I think this movie is lacking a lot of things, for one: suspense. When you call a movie Pitch Black it might be a wise decision NOT to start the Pitch Blackness 1 hour (!) into the movie and not have the story be dragged on for such a long time. After an hour the audience doesn't care anymore about creatures coming out of the ground because it is now dark. Even the great visual depiction can't help you anymore at this stage.
The story starts out with a blast but after that it gets lost in its own desert of improbabilities and impossibilities. If this movie was supposed to be pitch black, then there was an awful lot of ambient lighting in the second part of the movie.
A plus is the Unrated Director's Cut DVD. On this DVD Director Twohy has added a number of scenes that were not included in the theatrical release. These scenes clarify the story some, but they don't save the movie, regrettably. This could have been a great movie, let's hope Twohy does a better job next time.
7/10