‘Pitch Black’ Blasts Into Old Frontiers

“Pitch Black,” a routine sci-fi/horror action-adventure, takes us where we’ve been countless times before--a forbidding distant planet--and offers nothing new along the way. Director David Twohy, who co-wrote the script with Jim and Ken Wheat, seems to understand this because he brings maximum razzle-dazzle and energy to the film, which is certainly the way to go with such trite material, even if ultimately a flashy technique is not enough.

Twohy does have an ace in the hole in his star, Vin Diesel, a tall, New York-based actor who has an intelligence and authority to match his imposing physical presence. Without Diesel, “Pitch Black” wouldn’t be worth watching.

Diesel’s Riddick is a smart, cynical and decidedly dangerous prisoner who’s had a “surgical shine on my eyeballs” that makes them glow in the dark--don’t ask why. He’s in the custody of Johns (Cole Hauser), a self-proclaimed lawman with a macho swagger and drawl. They are among the passengers aboard a spacecraft that pilot Fry (Radha Mitchell) is forced to crash-land on a desert-like planet with three suns to keep the temperature scorching.

The small group come upon an abandoned laboratory complex, where Fry discovers one of those models of the cosmos suggesting that as blindingly bright as the sunlight is now, a total eclipse is in the offing--precisely the most dangerous circumstances for Riddick. Meanwhile, the whole party comes to the realization that, predictably enough, They Are Not Alone!

Shot in the Queensland, Australia, outback, “Pitch Black” is as relentlessly efficient as it is mechanical, and its steadfast craftsmanship may make it acceptable to die-hard sci-fi fans. Its appeal, however, is limited because of its blah characters--with the exception of Riddick--and almost total absence of humor. As a result, “Pitch Black’s” biggest plus is to serve as a calling card for Diesel, who made a strong impression in “Saving Private Ryan” and as the voice of “The Iron Giant,” and who’s clearly ready to carry bigger and better projects.

* MPAA rating: R, for sci-fi violence and gore, and for language. Times guidelines: The violence and gore are strong, standard for the genre.

‘Pitch Black’

Vin Diesel: Riddick

Radha Mitchell: Fry

Cole Hauser: Johns

Keith David: Imam

A USA Films release of an Interscope presentation. Director David Twohy. Producer Tom Engelman. Executive producers Ted Field, Scott Kroopf, Anthony Winley. Screenplay by Jim & Ken Wheat and David Twohy; from a story by Jim & Ken Wheat. Cinematographer David Eggby. Editor Rick Shaine. Music Graeme Revell. Costumes Anna Borghesi. Production designer Graham (Grace) Walker. Visual effects supervisor Peter Chiang. Art director Ian Gracie. Set designers Jacinta Leong, Martin Ash, Phil Shearer. Set decorator Michael Rumpf. Running time: 1 hour, 47 minutes.

In general release.