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Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs  The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black (2000)
A very enjoyable science fiction horror movie that although wildly derivative - It borrows from Starship Troopers (1997) with it's bugs vs humans in a base under siege trappings not to mention Aliens (1986) and most definitely John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) in which prisoners team up with their guards, in this case Vin Diesel's convict Riddick, to defeat the outside hordes trying to get in - has enough about it to still be a blast.
Director David Twohy sets out his characters immediately even though the opening scenes of the ship crashing onto what seems an uninhabited planet are really clunky and it's when Riddick is set free that the action levels ramp up in fast and furious fashion.
Radha Mitchell leads the supporting players and she's really good as is Farscape's Claudia Black, whilst Cole Hauser's bounty hunter is the bastard you expect him to be and Keith David's devoutly religious priest an almost Obi Wan (Guinness not McGregor) type. So far so cliched.
It's the premise that makes the film enjoyable, well the premise and Diesel's star power in his break out role. The planet's three suns that keep it in perpetual daylight - some lovely tinted camera work throughout the films first half - until those three suns go down at the same time and leave the planet in total darkness. It's quietly inventive with a couple of stand out shocks and ensures the cliches whilst clearly noticeable can be ignored in what is a rip roaring science fiction action B-movie. |
A film I haven't watched in many years. I always found it a bit overrated to be honest. I kept waiting for 'it' to happen and nothing really did. I prefer the sequel, Chronicles of Riddick. Never seen the third installment.
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