I just saw this film and I really enjoyed it. Sure, it is not the same a "Pitch Black" which I think was also a good film in its own right. "Chronicles of Riddick" is a big budget summer blockbuster film and on that level it succeeds.Sure it is silly in parts but we are not discussing a project based upon a Pulitzer Prize winning novel. It is action packed science fiction. I think Riddick DID stay true to the character he played in "Pitch Black". While the Riddick in that film was a brutal, self-centered opportunist, I think we see by the end of that film that he had good characteristics as well.

The Riddick in this film is still brutal, self-centered and opportunistic (see the full size statue of Riddick shown during the end credits) but we see more of the decent aspects of his character as well. The action scenes in this film were great! I especially enjoyed the "topside" chase scene on Cremetoria. And Thandie Newton was a really good "baddie"!

 

The thing that pleased me the most was that there were people of color in central key roles who were not stereotypes. The main hero was not the buff blue-eyed white man out to save humanity that we have been feed by Hollywood. And the female characters seemed to have more sense at times than the male characters. Thandie Newton's character had a much better grasp of court politics than her husband and Dame Judith's character wasn't just the stereotypical "wise mystical being", she was politically savvy as well.

 

The only problem I had with the film was the lack of development for Linus Roche's character. I just did not believe his actions toward the end of the film. But, that is trivial.All in all, it was a good way to spend about an hour forty five on a Saturday evening!