Elevator Pitch

I watched Chronicles of Riddick, the sequel, before Pitch Black. I hadn't been that impressed. I'd always heard that Pitch Black was the better movie, but I'm not so sure.

A malfunction forces a spaceship full of passengers in suspended animation to land on an unknown planet. May of the passengers die, but there are a few left - some crew, some Moslem pilgrims, a corrupt fixer and superhuman criminal Riddick (Vin Diesel). They soon find out about the planet:

• There is a depopulated colony that seems to have emptied out very suddenly
• The planet is in orbit around three suns, so it never gets dark
• There are deep caverns with something creepy in them

 The creepies from the cavern proceed a to kill a few people, and then we learn:

• They are afraid of the light - no problem since the sun never sets on this planet
• Except - problem - there is a total eclipse of all the suns once every n years, and the next time is coming soon
• But, at least Riddick can see in the dark with his modified eyes

 So there you have it - eventually, the lights go out, the creepies come out, and it's a race against time and creepies. Simple and effective. The style is utilitarian, with plain frontier clothes, unadorned buildings and jury-rigged equipment. I'd say space-age western, if I were looking for a genre. Something like Ghosts of Mars, perhaps.

Chronicles of Riddick, on the other hand, was baroquely ornate, full of silly costumes, wild fighting styles and weapons, oddball philosophies, farout special effects - more like Aeon Flux. Maybe it's just my mood, but I was hoping for something fantastic like that. Maybe I'll go back to Chronicles and see how I like it now.