Don't think of it as Sci-Fi

Rating: Null/10 (9 January 2003)

The first time I saw Pitch Black I was expecting another "tough-guys-meet-hostile-aliens-in-space" sci-flick like Aliens. Think of it in those terms and the plot becomes contrived - the whole planet to crash into and they come to ground within walking distance of the science base. Huh? Twenty-two years between eclipses and our gallant crew put down with just a few hours to spare. What? Too much to take, sorry...
But that's not what it's all about. This is a character drama that just happens to have a sci-fi setting. And that's what keeps me going back and watching this movie again and again. The characters are intense and very well portrayed - all of them, even poor Paris. We see Fry grow from the selfish bitch who would sacrifice forty passengers to save her own skin, to someone who would give her own life to save the others. And Riddick...
Riddick is in a class of his own. Too many times in movies we see the bad-guy-with-the-heart-of-gold stereotype. This ain't Riddick. He's just as bad at the end of the movie as he is at the start, and is quite ready to leave the others in a cave rather than risk himself. He only saves the others when pressed, or when it costs him nothing to do so. We find that Riddick has morals, though - better morals than Johns, the bounty hunter who's herding Riddick back to slam.
This is an *excellent* movie; every time I watch it I pick up something new that I hadn't noticed before. Ignore the contrivances in the plot. Ignore the impossibilities in the science. Instead watch the characters develop, and you'll find a great movie.