Holy Jesus, this one is boring. A supposed sequel to
Pitch Black, a halfway-decent monster movie that starred Vin Diesel battling winged nasty things in the dark, this one has none of the original’s charms. Diesel seems to be making his bid for the worst actor in the history of the world, delivering a ponderous, monotonous performance that grates on every sensibility that is engaged during the ingestion of a motion picture. Every line is delivered as if the director told his performers to use a high school-production of
King Lear as inspiration. Writer-director David Twohy basically rips of
Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Borg creatures with his Necromongers, a race of murderous humanoids looking to assimilate everybody into their race. Countless battles and some ridiculous escapes from fiery weather storms comprise most of the film. The rest of the film is just Diesel flexing his muscles, looking determined and growling a lot. The man has made some decent films, but his days as an action hero are numbered. (CPL, CR, CS, ER, NM)