Pitch Black does its darndest to make its lead character is cool as humanly possible. Richard Riddick (Vin Diesel) is a convicted murderer (though we’re hinted that his killings were justified/self-defense), he’s mean, tough and cold (but helps others when they’re in trouble), and he can see in the dark.

In Pitch Black, Riddick is being transported to a prison on another planet, with a group of civilians, when their spaceship runs into problems and crashes on a Tatuine-esque desert planet. The group of people manage to find an abandoned spaceship that they can make work, but in the mean time they discover they are not alone.

Hungry, flying alien creatures live underground but only come out when it’s dark. An extended solar-eclipse occurs and the group soon find themselves more scared of the new alien creatures than they were of Riddick. Coincidently, Riddick just happens to be able to see in the dark, so the surviving members of the group must rely on Riddick to get them to the spaceship safely.

Pitch Black is another one of those movies where the characters die off slowly, much like Jurrasic Park or Alien. Pitch Black does have some surprises; I never would have guessed the ones who survive. But the film as a whole has little to offer that’s genuinely original. Vin Diesel’s character is edgy but not exciting, and fear-provoking scenes are in short supply for a sci-fi/horror.

The planet they land on has three suns, each a different color, and Pitch Black’s camera filters reflect that – in addition to a gritty picture in the first place. So there’s often something interesting to look at, though the film often emits a low budget feel.

Pitch Black offers soft undertones of sacrifice – as many such films do, as well as some touches on judgementalism, but it’s all in support of the plot. Fundamentally, Pitch Black doesn’t add up to much more than something you would see on The Sci-Fi channel.

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