Review: Pitch Black (2000)

If you can look past the R-rated sci-fi setting, the computer-generated visual effects, and the presence of Vin Diesel, Pitch Black starts to look a lot like a B-movie from the 1950s. Such is its devotion to genre conventions and a tried-and-true dramatic set-up. A modest hit upon its release in 2000, Pitch Black spawned a cult following and an unlikely franchise centred around Vin Diesel’s gravely antihero who can see in the dark, Richard B. Riddick. But you don’t need to know anything about what comes after Pitch Black for the movie to work. It’s as straightforward a B-movie as films of this type get in 21st-century Hollywood filmmaking. It plays the old hits, while adding an appealingly original ingredient, which in this case is Diesel’s memorable character.

Riffing on old westerns and war films from the past—particularly The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) and desert-set pictures like Sahara (1943) and even The Walking Hills (1949)—Pitch Black follows a motley group of survivors who crashland on a desert planet. They include the pilot, Fry (Radha Mitchell), a bounty hunter, Johns (Cole Hauser), a Muslim preacher, “Imam” (Keith David), runaway kid, Jack (Rhiana Griffith) and convicted murderer, Riddick (Diesel). The group is divided over how to survive and escape the planet, but are forced to work together when they realize the planet is inhabited by deadly bug-like aliens that hunt in the dark. An eclipse forces them into action, as the aliens are unleashed upon the planet’s surface, and Riddick, who can see in the dark, is their only hope of getting off the planet alive.

This arrangement is a classic dramatic set-up, with the push and pull between the untrustworthy lawman and the dangerous criminal who is the group’s only hope. There’s a natural tension born out of a group of civilians trusting a murderous criminal that co-writer and director David Twohy exploits to full effect. The addition of aliens and the eclipse amplifies the scenario and adds gruesome, sci-fi horror elements, but you could easily substitute a sandstorm (as in The Flight of the Phoenix), invading enemy soldiers (as in Sahara), or predatory bandits (as in The Walking Hills) and you’d have the same dramatic set-up.

The science-fiction elements are also imaginatively designed, even if they’re as equally referential as the plotting. The insectoid, hive-minded aliens are reminiscent of the bugs in Starship Troopers (1997). The addition of Muslim pilgrims adds an Arabian veneer that is similar to Frank Herbert’s Dune. And the working class survivors recall the crew of the Nostromo in Alien (1979). None of these elements are original, but they combine to give the universe a lived-in feel that feels credible. That Pitch Black hews so closely to its genre influences in terms of both plotting and design is a large part of its charm.

That Riddick is the wild card and one truly original element is the other key to the film’s appeal. He’s contradictory, charismatic, and genuinely mysterious. He fills the role of the noble criminal or outsider, but he’s not all that noble. As later plot developments show, he’s out to save himself and doesn’t care much for the others—aside from Jack. He’s not the main character—that’d be Fry—but he’s undeniably the most interesting and charismatic survivor. The plot hinges on him, but he doesn’t supply the emotional arc. We’re told that he’s a vicious murderer, but Diesel plays him as a blend between a dudebro and a Clint Eastwood gunslinger—he’s silent for large stretches, but happy to drop a macho one-liner during action scenes. Diesel, who spends most of the film wearing blackout goggles and a black tank top that hugs his muscles, looks something like a steampunk fitness instructor. And let’s not forget that he can see in the dark and is apparently stronger and faster than normal people. He’s eccentrically imagined and compellingly performed, existing just on the precipice of being goofy.

It’s no wonder Twohy and Diesel continued the series to further explore the character of Riddick. But you don’t need the follow-up films to appreciate the effect that Riddick brings to Pitch Black and this familiar set-up. He’s the necessary ingredient to enliven the formulaic approach; a wild card thrown into a familiar situation in a fantastic setting. It’s obvious why we’re still watching this movie 21 years later: this kind of solid genre storytelling has only grown rarer with each passing year.

7 out of 10

Directed by David Twohy; written by Ken and Jim Wheat and David Twohy, based on a story by Ken and Jim Wheat; starring Vin Diesel, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, Keith David, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Claudia Black, Rhiana Griffith, John Moore.

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