Best SF film since the Matrix

Rating: Null/10 (23 February 2000)

Actually, I'm quite suprised at the mixed reviews this film has gotten. It seems as if all the reviews are equally divided. I like that. It means this film isn't completely dedicated to please everyone, but does have enough going for it to elicit strong reactions one way or the other.
I for one enjoyed it very much. I thought the cinematography was beautiful. I loved the washed-out over-exposed look on the planet's surface. This section of the move reminded me of the Alien planet scenes in "The Man Who Fell to Earth." I also thought the night scenes were done very well. The faint glow of torches and the like was handled beautifully.
Another thing that made this movie stronger than most SF you see these days is the wonderful characterization. I like the fact that nobody in this movie was a perfect character. In fact, everyone in the film is pretty flawed. I liked the acting quite a bit. There were quite a few good performances in this movie; Vin Diesel being the stand out. In fact, he was amazing. His performance contributed to what I think is the most fully realized SF film character since...hell I don't know. Great.
I know this review is rambling, so I'll cut it short. What I didn't like about it is that I thought the script was confused about what kind of movie it should be. Should it be a more character driven piece or more of an actioner. It tried to split the difference and didn't quite work. I thought the dialog was very good for this type of thing, and I really liked the little chracter quirks. I just wanted to either see a little more menace from the creatures, or more of the groups self destruction. Anyway, I hope this made sense and there aren't too many terrible errors in the grammar or spelling. So go check it out 8/10.