Synopsis
A transport ship heading for the galactic outpost New Mecca crashes on an abandoned planet with three suns and no night. Junior pilot Carolyn Fry (Radha Mitchell) tries to keep the survivors together, which include William Johns (Cole Hauser) and his prisoner, Richard Riddick (Vin Diesel). When the survivors learn that the planet has a total eclipse that allows bloodthirsty mutants to roam, they must repair a life boat before they all get devoured.

Review
I want to like Pitch Black, but there isn’t too much to like. The premise of surviving on a dangerous planet has been done over and over, and there is nothing to make this movie distinct in a sub-genre that is saturated enough already. Vin Diesel is the best part about Pitch Black, or at least his character. Riddick is a bad-ass, and Diesel does a good job playing the character. The action is pretty cool, but with much of it taking place in the dark, it can be difficult to see it. Sound work of a horror film can make or break it, and I think that is why this movie was such a disappointment to me, the sound doesn’t add to the tension. Pitch Black is a generic science fiction horror survival movie that doesn’t do much to stand out, whose strongest aspect is having a cool central character.

Rating
2/5

For more of The Chronicles of Riddick series, check out my reviews for The Chronicles of Riddick, The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury, and Riddick