Ostensibly created to link together Pitch Black and its tonally very different sequel, this 33-minute animated feature actually takes care of that in its last sixty seconds or so. The balance of the film is a bunch of set pieces, separated by Vin Diesel being all laconically bad ass. If I were 16, I'd probably have loved it. As an old man of forty, it's a bit more meh. Some of the fight scenes are quite well constructed from a technical perspective, but the tough guy talk doesn't work nearly so well. At least the repeating characters from the first film were all voiced by their original actors: I do appreciate that. I also liked that one of the secondary characters, having basically been used as a hostage throughout it, finally got to contribute at the end (though I didn't much like the way that contribution was then framed by the narrative, afterward. It makes sense in the context of the film that follows ... but I have major issues with that context).
I got this as part of a set with the movies that bracket it (Pitch Black being the thing in the pack that I really wanted), and on that basis I don't regret picking it up. I wouldn't really recommend buying Dark Fury on its own merits, though. It's stylish, but lacks substance (which is how I remember the movie that followed, as well).
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