Vin Diesel may fuel the multi-billion dollar Fast and the Furious franchise, and he may have had a notable death in Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning Saving Private Ryan, but Pitch Black is the greatest Vin Diesel showcase. David Twohy’s 2000 space-bound creature feature is a monster movie classic, pitting an animalistic Richard Riddick (Vin Diesel) against a planet full of flying critters who have destroyed everything on the surface. The film launched a multimedia franchise, but its immediate sequel, The Chronicles of Riddick, pivoted to space opera and was a critically-maligned box office disappointment. There are promising elements, but Chronicles’ fundamental flaw is simple: Riddick is simply a far better protagonist for monster movies.
