The tyranist's thoughts
I love sci-fi and I love horror so it shouldn't suprise anyone that I was kind of excited about seeing Pitch Black. It seems to me that sci-fi and horror are almost inextricably intertwined. There are four basic types of sci-fi and maybe four types of horror and they cross in more than one of the types. But you don't want to hear about my genre classifications, you want to know if this movie was worth it.
First of all, you should know that I despise Vin Diesel. I have since the first time I saw him and I probably will for a while. I don't despise him the same way I do Leonardo di Caprio (I can still watch a Vin Diesel movie), but I really don't like him. Having said that he did a passable job which is a very good thing since he played a central character. The acting was really pretty good all around when you consider the fact that there are movies of a similar nature that have much worse. I was very impressed by Radha Mitchell. I hope she does well.
The dialogue bugged me a little. Vin Diesel's character kept uttering one-liners that felt completely out of place. Once in a while some piece of jargon would jar my senses a little. It was enough for me to give it a skull, but not as bad as some I've had to endure.
If you are a sci-fi fan or a horror fan, this movie will likely please you. The creatures are pretty evil looking and the concept is fantastic. The movies pace is almost perfect in its sometimes frenzied attempt to move us along. You'll probably end up liking characters that die and maybe hating some that live so be prepared. This is looking like it might be the best sci-fi/horror cross of the year and we haven't even gotten out of the first quarter.