Pitch Black Review

I think I first came across Pitch Black in a $5 bin at Wal-Mart several years ago.  I remembered a trailer for the film I had seen at some point, specifically the one defining scene where a dude alone in the dark does a fire-spitting trick and lights up the darkness only to find he is surrounded by fearsome alien creatures.  I always thought it was a cool shot, and I pretty much paid $5 to see the context for that scene to unfold.  Thankfully enough, the film is pretty good, even though I wouldn't recommend making purchases based on one scene because rarely are the results as all around pleasing as Pitch Black is. 

This sci-fi/horror action film follows the story of a crew that survives a crash landing on an unfamiliar world.  The stranded passengers are dropped into a survival situation where food, water and shelter become paramount.  The world they crash on is lit 24 hours a day (or however many hours are in the day of this planet) by two suns, i.e. there is no nighttime which makes for a unique challenge.  After the survival essentials are covered, the team discovers a way to escape the planet in a shuttle they find at an abandoned settlement.  They believe their main problem is the escaped convict, Riddick, who they believe will stop at nothing to kill them all and take the shuttle for himself.  To make a long story short, the planet is eventually caught in a full solar eclipse, ending the never-ending daylight and plunging the world into darkness.  The team quickly is confronted with vicious creatures that only emerge during this darkness and they ally with Riddick in an attempt to ward off the creatures and escape the planet. 

The first thing I really like about this flick is the setting and visual effects.  It's got a late 70's, early 80's dirty, real-world sci-fi feel about it, very reminiscent of the first two Alien movies.  The film does a good job of subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) paying homage to those defining genre classics but still forging enough of an identity to stand on its own.  The characters are grounded, believable and they interact with each other in realistic ways.  One character in particular annoyed the crap out of me, but not because he was poorly portrayed or written.  His personality just pissed me off, which actually could be considered commendable in a piece of art.  Emotional response is one of the key things artists should strive for in their work, after all.  The real star of this show is Vin Diesel in, what I feel, is his best movie to date.  This character fits him like a glove and it really seems like Mr. Diesel enjoys slipping into that gravelly deep voice and quietly disappearing into the darkness.  I think it also should be mentioned that Vin Diesel swears like a pro.  Swearing is an art; some people suck at it and shouldn't do it.  For others, swearing flows naturally and it enhances the character.  Vin Diesel most assuredly fits into the latter category.

There are only a few very minor things about the film I noticed.  There's a level of inconsistency with the effects which is a little distracting.  Some of the effects are poorly done (like the twin suns) and some are pretty good (the creatures).  I kind of wondered who the main character is supposed to be, because we kind of have two.  The first half of the film seems more centered on the ship's pilot, Carolyn, but the second half shifts the focus to include Riddick and the "twist" ending definitely leaves the film with the center of attention squarely on him.  But this isn't really even a minor problem, just something I noticed. 

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with Pitch Black.  My expectations were admittedly low when I scraped this title out of the pile of bargain bin garbage, but thankfully I came out with a minor Sci-Fi/Horror classic.  I think one of the characteristics about the film I like the most is that it never thinks too much of itself.  There's no bloated, self absorbed, cliched showdown with a queen monster, no starfighter shootout over a mega death weapon gearing up to destroy a planet...just a small group of terrified survivors fighting for the lives at every turn.  It's a low-key personal story, which is the main reason I enjoyed it. 

7/10

Pitch Black

Directed by David Twohy

Written by Jim and Ken Wheat; Screenplay by Jim and Ken Wheat, and David Twohy

Starring Vin Diesel, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, Keith David, Lewis Fitz-Gerald

Rated R for sci-fi violence and gore, and for language