Rated R for sci-fi violence and gore, and for language.
109 Minutes
Directed By: David Twohy
Written By: Jim Wheat and Ken Wheat
Staring: Vin Diesal, Cole Hauser, Radha Mitchell, Keith David, Rhiana Griffith, and Claudia Black
They say most of your brain shuts down during cryo-sleep. All but the primitive side, the animal side. No wonder I’m still awake. -Riddick
By a wicked twist of fate, somewhere in the distant future a group of space travelers are peacefully sleeping in stasis when a small asteroid field begins penetrating the hull and the ship crashes on a baren planet they know nothing about. The few survivors see the planet as unforgiving in it’s terrain and heat. There is no relief as night never seems to come because of it’s three suns that scorch the dead planet. Pilot Carolyn Fry (Radha Mitchell) assumes leadership as the ships Captain is deceased from the crash. The ship is beyond repair and she is quick to learn that is only one of her worries. Bounty Hunter William J. Johns (Cole Hauser) has a prisoner aboard called “Riddick” (Vin Diesal) that is a mass murderer and criminal. Riddick is no longer officially captive and walks freely among the survivors, making everyone uneasy. What they don’t know is the planet is headed for an eclipse that allows some darkness dwelling creatures to come out and feed upon anything living. In the darkness, the few survivors suddenly rely on Riddick, who had surgically engineered eyes that enables him to see in the dark, and hope he will bring them to find a way to escape the planet that holds them hostage.
In it’s essence Pitch Black is about survival, the lengths people go to, and who they will rely on when the tides turn for the worse. What’s very interesting about Pitch Black is the richly drawn characters. What is most compelling is when their pasts, their secrets are all revealed none seem to be creatures of innocence. They all hide behind facades created, except for Riddick, the one who has the most to hide and essentially turns into their hero. The flip-flop of this situation is represented in the turn of the tide in the movie. When light turns to dark, everything and everyone’s role changes.
Somehow, though the vicious and menacing killer, Vin Diesal makes Riddick the most charismatic and likable character of the bunch, or certainly the one you are drawn to most. He upstaged the rest of the cast, and though you wanted them all to survive, the only one you really cared to see go on, was Riddick. In this movie you realize Vin Diesal has what it takes to possibly be your next Sly Stallone or even Arnold.
For being a film fairly low-budget on the science fiction genre scale, the director utilized what he had brilliantly. The creatures themselves are almost never revealed, which keeps the illusion of their mysteriousness about them, and also doesn’t expose bad CGI. Because of this there was not one time that it became obvious that they were CGI creations. Even in the close encounter scene where Riddick goes head to head with one.
The depth beyond the tale, mixed with mystery and the unknown, tagged together with fabulously curious characters makes Ptich Black a new and interesting addition to the science fiction family, and hopefully will be around to inspire other films in the genre to think outside the box.
I really agree with Heather. Might have only gone 3 and not 3.5, but that’s a minor quibble.
Watching this and The Chronicles Of Riddick together should be required in any film school. The differences between the two, and the quality of the two could not be more stark. This film works because it’s about CHARACTERS in an interesting environment, interacting in ways that are true to their essential nature. It’s not a SFX piece designed to shoehorn the beginning of a over scripted and under realized trilogy down our throats. They probably spent more in the ‘Furnace Prison Planet’ scenes in Riddick than is Pitch Black all together. And for what, more spectacle and less impact. I always think of this as one of the ‘Little Movies That Could’. Low budget but good ideas pulled off with talent and style. I watch this when ever I see it on cable. I run from Riddick.
Marc
I would quibble. This film probably deserves four stars. Can you think of a better Science Fiction movie that’s been released in the last ten years Marc? I can’t.
I didn’t hate Riddick, but it lacked the depth and charactar development that Pitch Black did. Riddick is probably the best antihero ever.
Athena,
This has not been a great decade for Sci-Fi, that’s for sure. But kinda off the top of the head.
To me:
Primer – And a MUCH lower budget.
Matrix – FIRST ONE ONLY
The Incredibles – Animated – Superhero-Sci/Fi
The Butterfly Effect – Really liked this – Hardest hitting ending to a film I’d seen in a long time. Shame Mr. Punked decided to stop acting after this one and went back to relying on his looks. Oh, and being Mr. Demi More.
Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack – Yep – it’s THAT good.
Spiderman II – Superhero Sci/Fi
I’d put the two Batman movies in there as well, but I take them as more ‘Drama – Superhero’, with little to no ‘Sci-Fi’ elements to them as opposed to Spiderman II with the sentient Octopus limbs and such.
On a movie to just movie basis I’d Rate Pitch Black better than all three of the Star Wars Prequels, but there is so much more going on with SW that I’m sure I’ll revisit them more in the future.
But – again – this is just me.
Marc
I would probably put The Matrix as my number one as well……….
but I would more than likely have Pitch Black in my top five of the decade.
Straying away from the superhero genre there really hasn’t been a ton of great Sci-Fi, though I have to say the “realistic” future Sci-Fi movies are starting to get better, like Children Of Men and while Babylon A.D. was more geared toward the action end, it was a step in the right direction.
Spiderman Is An Atrocity!
What? Who said that?
……..gollum………gollum…….
I think the Spiderman movies were good but I wouldn’t call them Science Fiction, nor The Incredibles, but I haven’t seen Primer. Perhaps that’s something I’ll give a try.
I’ll give you the Matrix though I though I generalize that more with the 90′s. It wasn’t my cup of tea but it was ground breaking in it’s genre. It’s just a shame they made sequels afterwards. Awful!
‘It’s just a shame they made sequels afterwards. Awful!’
And on THAT – I could not agree more!
Marc
You spelled Vin Diesel wrong. Unforgivable.
I’m sure he misspells it on occasion too.