38 lines
3.9 KiB
Plaintext
38 lines
3.9 KiB
Plaintext
pitch black is a sheep in wolf's clothing .
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it is full of darkness , danger and violence and if you buy into the marketing hype , an unsettling and scary film going experience .
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don't be fooled .
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pitch black is a morality play masquerading as a scare-fest .
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it starts off with blistering intensity .
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a cargo spaceship crash lands on a planet apparently leeched of life by the scorching heat of three suns .
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among the survivors is fry ( mitchell ) , the ship's pilot , who spends the film wrestling with the fact that she tried to jettison the other passengers in her effort to land the craft safely .
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there is imam ( david ) , an islamic leader whose faith in his god is tested repeatedly throughout the film .
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there is a law enforcement officer in the form of johns ( hauser ) , who attacks every situation with square jawed authoritarian zeal .
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and there is riddick ( diesel ) , a menacing , muscle-bound convicted murderer who's being brought back to justice by johns .
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the group quickly sizes up the situation and each other .
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confident in their assessment of matters , a plan is set in motion to escape their hellish environment .
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those plans are shredded by the appearance of one of the planet's wildlife , a predatory , sometimes winged , species that enjoys the taste of blood and flesh .
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fortunately , the creatures are light sensitive and are forced to live in networks of catacombs under the planet's surface .
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unfortunately , the group has managed to land on the planet moments before an eclipse is about to occur , taking away their one protection from the monsters .
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the group's savior comes in the form of johns , whose decisive leadership looks to deliver them from purgatory .
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or does it ?
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pitch black deviates from the standard sci-fi fare by avoiding some of the stock " escape the boogieman " conflicts the genre typically serves up .
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just as the planet gave a false facade of lifelessness , first appearances given by the survivors proves to be just as false .
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the excitement of the film comes not from the danger posed by the creatures , but rather from watching the shifting allegiances and emotional growth of the characters as the planet serves as a deus ex machina of sorts to catalyze emotional growth .
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a recurrent theme runs throughout the movie of faith , whether it be religious or in a person , and how that powers their motivations .
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i found it telling that an accidental death occurs early on due to the misperception of a self professed atheist .
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conversely , imam constantly contributes any good fortune to allah .
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one by one , his perceived heaven sent blessings are taken away and crushed .
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imam is forced to reassess his faith .
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another character expresses belief in god , along with a life long hate .
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yet another character makes a decision that echoes the sentiments of christ about selflessness and has lasting repercussions for several of group .
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it is a fascinating character study hiding under the guise of a scare flick .
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special mention should be made of vin diesel , who intriguingly conveys feral menace combined with a truly mesmerizing presence .
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his character could have easily slipped into a parody of the baddass killing machine , but twohy and diesel add surprising depth to riddick .
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they can be excused for the two or three shwarzenegger-like catch phrases that growl their way out of diesel's mouth .
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the movie has its flaws that can be nitpicked .
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the creatures do look derivative of the ones in alien .
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the dialogue isn't the freshest at times , reminiscent of a bad comic book .
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yes , the appearance of riddick's vision skills are more than a little timely considering the situation .
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these trappings are on the periphery of the story twohy is really trying to tell .
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twohy may have lured you in under the pretense of scaring you with film fabricated boogieman , but he shows the real boogieman to be the prejudices and beliefs we use to direct decisions in our lives .
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