Pitch Black Review
by "Sean Molloy" (sean AT mediajunkies DOT com)February 20th, 2000
Pitch Black
Starring Vin Diesel, Radha Mitchell
Directed By David Twohy
USA Films, Rated R, 2000
Running Time: 1 Hour 47 Minutes
By Sean Molloy
LIGHT SPOILERS
Pitch Black, a new entry in the sci-fi action category of "people vs. space bugs", manages to avoid the pitfalls that lots of other films in this genre inevitably stumble into. Far too often I've witnessed these things spiral headlong into a black hole of stupidity, where scenes that are supposed to be cool and shocking instead wind up inducing groans and laughter. Recent victims of this phenomenon include Event Horizon and Alien Resurrection - both are films that had promising buildups, and both wound up building towards events that were just plain ridiculous. So I'll say this much for Pitch Black - it never crosses the fine line into the well-traveled territory of sci-fi cheesiness, and for that I am grateful. Unfortunately, it tends to tread firmly on the safe side of that fine line, rarely managing to create those moments of uber-cool that would put it on a level with Aliens, the reigning champ of the people vs. space bugs film.
When people set out to battle space bugs, I'm more than willing to suspend logic and accept plot contrivances - Pitch Black is guilty on both counts - if it makes for a promising set-up. Sure, have a crew of space travelers crash land on a tri-sunned planet just as it has it's only night in 22 years, that doesn't bother me. And give this crew of advanced space explorers two blowtorches and a couple glow-sticks as their sole sources of light, I have no problem with that. Have a convict who can coincidentally see in the dark and has mysterious motives, why not? And sure, have this planet populated by an inexplicable species that is hurt by light on a planet that doesn't ever have a night except for this one convenient moment... Never mind that such a species in such a habitat doesn't make a lick of sense... why would they have evolved on the planet in the first place? What the hell do they eat? There's an implication that they're cannibals, but anyone who's taken a single science class knows that a population can't sustain itself like that. You can certainly come up with some far-fetched answers and explanations on your own, but in the end, it just plain doesn't matter. Just go with it, cuz the contrivances here are outweighed by the potentially cool situations. And that's really what you're here for, now isn't it?
Alas, potential is really all we get. Pitch Black has its share of moments, mostly occurring in the first half, but when I walked away in the end, it felt as if a lot of good ideas had been greatly wasted. The film opens with a spectacular crash sequence, akin to the horrific plane crash that that opens Alive. A later scene that occurs when the suns are still shining finds the reluctant Captain Fry (Radha Mitchell) underground, tethered to a rope trailing behind her in a series of caverns, protected from the things lurking in the dark only by spotty shafts of sunlight. Moments like these are exquisite, but unfortunately they do not come often enough.
Love it or hate it, if there's one thing The Blair Witch Project accomplished, it was to make us remember how powerful simple suggestion can be in a suspenseful situation. Pitch Black, thankfully, adheres to this forgotten school of thought. These creatures lurk in the darkness; when we see them, we see just enough to assemble their forms in our heads. A frightening moment can be easily ruined by a bad computer graphic, and Pitch Black never succumbs to overplaying its hand in this department. The special effects never overstep their bounds, and we're treated to that rarity in the modern age of blockbuster filmmaking - restraint. The flip-side to this coin is that a select few of the action sequences were too dark and confusing to make out what was happening.
The planet these folks land on looks beautiful, the film has been overexposed and saturated with different colors to effectively simulate what light from three suns would look like. The moment of the eclipse is absolutely beautiful, and stands as one of the most striking visuals I've ever seen in a film like this. The whole film somehow feels refreshingly like a British, independent art- house take on the sci-fi monster movie.
But eventually it all just kind of fizzles out. By the third act, frankly, I was more than a bit bored. Not too long after the sun sets, the action starts to plod generically along, and the thrills are too few and far between. The focus seems to dwell too much on the only fairly interesting crew, and there are simply too many of them around for us to care about their problems. When a supposedly key 'revelation' is made about the kid traveling with the group, you kinda shrug and wonder why it was even mentioned. The deep-voiced and aptly named Vin Diesel, who voiced the Iron Giant and here plays the shady convict Riddick, is admittedly extra cool. His psychological interplay with Captain Fry almost got to the point of being interesting, but couldn't quite make it over the hump.
The film also missteps by providing us with an ending that is, well, just sorta there. When I walk into a movie like Pitch Black, I expect something epic to close things out. But I suppose, at the same time, I'd rather have it just kind of stop than see things ruined with something ridiculous and laughable (see, once again, Event Horizon and Alien Resurrection for examples of how not to handle an ending). For a couple of minutes, Pitch Black seems like it's on its way to exactly ripping off the conclusion to Aliens - and I do mean exactly. But at least it has the wisdom to stop itself from going in that direction.
In the end, I was thankful to have seen an example of a sci-fi action thriller that never once seemed overtly stupid or absurd... they are a rare breed indeed. There's enough unique and good stuff here that Pitch Black certainly isn't a waste of time. Sadly, it's just a very well-crafted waste of potential.
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