The media industry both at the big screen and small are in full force again with Movies and TV Series pooping left and right, but the other day I was looking for an action movie and remind me of Pitch Black from 2000, this movie managed to keep you guessing from start to finish, mixing genres in ways back in the day where the trend and still relevant today and while it's not perfect, the movie takes familiar elements from sci fi and horror but combines them in ways that feel natural, even 24 years later which is quite an achievement considering how dated some movies from 2000 can feel today, at the end you will feel both satisfied and scratching my head because to be honest part of it doesn't make that much sense but lets think about it, its suppose to be an action, horror with an antihero in it, probably too many implications but the movie manage to keep you awake, focus and entertained.
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The movie doesn't waste time for it to build up the action, it start strong, as a transport ship gets hammered by meteors and crash lands on a desert planet that's constantly bathed in sunlight from three suns, which already sets up an interesting landscape since we will probably never see something like that happening on Earth, among the survivors we have Carolyn Fry, a pilot hiding a dark secret about almost sacrificing the passengers during the crash. Johns a supposed lawman who is actually a mercenary with his own demons and then there's Riddick, a convicted murderer with surgically enhanced eyes that let him see in the dark. If you have seen the next movie probably know this is not the case but let me stick to this story so far, his eyes seems like an odd advantage on a planet with perpetual daylight, until the group discovers they've landed just in time for a rare eclipse that happens every 22 years and that's when things really get interesting because this planet isn't as empty as it seems, its full of creatures living underground, nasty ones that can only come out in the dark and they're hungry, guess who is your lucky guy?! Riddick.
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Vin Diesel absolutely nail the role of Riddick with a mix of menace and charisma that makes it impossible to look away whenever he is on screen, in my opinion this is a better actor than on the Fast and Furious movies, he not only look very confident but there is that tone on his voice commanding others that walks the line between threatening and charming, making Riddick one of those rare movie villains you can't help but root for, what we would now days call an antihero, even when you are not sure if he is going to help or hurt the other characters. The cast over all does a great job, there is Radha Mitchell who shows this complex vulnerability with Fry, making her internal struggle between self preservation and redemption feel genuine and compelling, while Cole Hauser's Johns slowly reveals more of the corruption beneath his lawman facade.
I'm sure many didn't know this movie existed and back in the 2000 sites like IMDB or Rottentomatoes were basically in pampers compared to how they have grown so far so I would argue over the time the movie has done very well where ever it goes with over 250+ ratings on Rottentomatoes concluding a 77%, considering how extremist some voters can be this is a sign Pitch Black (2000) is a great movie. While it wasn't a massive hit when it first came out, it has developed a strong following that appreciates how it blends genres and plays with expectations, I particularly think Riddick as a character is one that fits the best to Vin Diesel, which explains why he got his own franchise despite this being a relatively average movie, the visual style, especially the use of different color filters to show the harsh alien environment, got a lot of praise, but it has to be mention that the CGI on this movie is far from MCU quality, the creatures its probably its biggest critic, it also suffers from many movies from the time that keep this creatures mostly on the shadows and this is because they could not generate them as good as they probably wanted, was a very big issue I had with monsters movies probably until the 2010s when things started to get better as tech evolve.
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The movie does give you that sense of survival, watching your back at every time trying not to get eaten with Riddick been really the only one that can guide you and its really funny how the movie goes back full circle because Fry make her final push through "the valley of death" hunting ground of this deadly creatures, the funny part is that after Fry attempt to dump the passengers to save herself at first during the crash, now she is literally diving into the darkness to keep save someone who actually is not worth saving as for her standards but I guess that is how it make it work so well, you never know who you will end up working for. Fry dying fells just right and inevitable, when she does seem to be the perfect culmination to her character as Riddick just watch without any kind of remorse, Riddick's reaction to her death tells us everything we need to know about how far he has come without turning him into some kind of reformed hero, he is still the same dangerous person but we see him choose to go back for the others when he could have easily left them behind, the final escape sequence with Jack and Imam creates this perfect balance of hope, there were very little chances they would make it out and even after such miracle the movie doesn't feel like its giving a clean, happy ending but instead an ambiguous conclusion where Riddick remains true to his nature while showing just enough humanity to be interesting without becoming predictable, it's the kind of ending that leaves you thinking about the choices these characters made and how their experiences changed them, probably what makes it perfect for a sequel, without trying to wrap everything up, which feels exactly right for a movie.
I have to give it a 7.5/10 considering this is a movie I never get tired of watching, this might be my fourth time watching Black Pitch and The Chronicles of Riddick, I discover it through the sequel so it felt amazing getting all that context and backstory. It's the kind of movie that sticks and makes you want more out of it, more details about Riddick, the planet he was born, now days a situation that makes the perfect combination for a TV Series and they did try but for reasons I do not know never work out. I also enjoy that the movie waste no time on throw you into the action, everything works around Riddick and doesn't make you feel other characters were not develop enough, this look like a wise choise from the director.
