The plot of Pitch Black's been seen many times before: a group of clichéd stereotypes crash-land on a planet which seems deserted, but low and behold it's actually populated by aliens who soon set about eating them one by one with their nasty sharp teeth. But Pitch Black has many points in its favour, firstly Vin Diesel. Apparently he was in Saving Private Ryan, but he must have been very well hidden. But from what I saw in Pitch Black, he can only become a major star. Also director David N. Twohy orchestrates some stunning set pieces such as the ship crashing at the start of the movie and the multiple alien attacks, and there's also some solid photography of the planet before it all goes dark. The other actors are reasonably competent, but in any case the presence of Claudia Black (from Farscape) makes criticism largely a futile exercise. Pitch Black is weak on characterisation and plot, but is still a very enjoyable movie largely thanks to Vin, and the special effects, which are impressive for a (reasonably) low budget movie. There are plenty of "WTF is that!!!" moments, which are always fun. And you get to see lots of chewed up gruesome body chunks, so who can really complain? Of course it's very similar to Alien or Aliens or Starship Troopers, but who cares? I've already ordered the DVD.
(30 May 2004 - looks like I was wrong about Vin Diesel!)
108 minutes, Cinemascope
The Players:
Radha Mitchell as Fry
Cole Hauser as Johns
Vin Diesel as Riddick
Keith David as Imam
Lewis Fitz-Gerald as Paris
Claudia Black as Shazza
written by Ed on 25 November 2000