Movie reviews: Pitch Black
In the far future, a ship with his crew and passengers in stasis, passes through the debris of a comet and crashes on a nearby planet. The survivors find themselves on a barren planet that has constant daylight due to three suns. One of the survivors, a bounty hunter named Johns, reveals that one of the passengers was a dangerous criminal named Riddick, and he has managed to escape during the crash. When one of the survivors is killed investigating the planet, suspicion falls on Riddick. It soon becomes clear that the survivors have more to worry about than one human prisoner, and they might just need Riddick's help to survive.
This film was probably responsible for making Vin Diesel a big star. The film was quite a small budget affair, but was quite a big success any way. The film was such a success that it lead to a sequel with an even bigger budget (The Chronicles of Riddick). There is even a second sequel that is due out soon, simply called Riddick. Things seem to be going well for Vin Diesel, with a third Riddick film on the way as well as a seventh Fast and the Furious film as well.
At first it seems like the hero of the film is going to be the acting captain Carolyn Fry (even though she attempts to jettison the passenger pod when the ship crashes at the beginning of the film). I wasn't sure whether to root for her or not. She was willing to sacrifice innocents just to save herself, but she ended up redeeming herself when she went back to rescue an injured Riddick.
The alien creatures looked pretty cool and the CGI that brought them to life was pretty impressive for a low budget film. I'm not sure how to describe them, but they looked kind of like a cross between a pterodactyl and a hammerhead shark.
Three and a half pointy hats.
Next time: Three Men and a Baby
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