David Twohy's big budget 2004 sequel to his own low-budget sci-fi cult film, Pitch Black, isn't nearly as good as that film was on several levels. Starting with the fact that what made Pitch Black so effective and entertaining, unique and original as a movie overall, was the fact that it wasn't an overly big budget. Sure, it may have cost about 25 million dollars, but as far as science=fictions films go, and in fact, how much Twohy was able to actually pull off with such a tight budget on a film of that scale was quiet impressive, but Chronicles or Riddick, is a complete mess of a movie. The special effects, performances, action sequences, and, most of all, the plot, fall completely flat on there face at the expense of a ridiculously bloated 105 million dollar budget. Sure, the action and special effects are on a much bigger scale here, for sure, but they really aren't much better. half the time the action sequences are so messily edited and directed, that all you can really make out during those scenes are a bunch of swirling colors and green screen overload. Also, acting may have not been Pitch Blacks strong suit, but at least they were trying in that film, because in the Chronicles of Riddick, not even Vin Diesel himself can save the film, and what is even more depressing, is that the film actually has a fairly decent cast, with actors such as Judy Dench (of all people!), Thandie Newton, Karl Urban and Alexa Devalos, but all of them seem so utterly bored here, just as much so as we are when we are watching it, so the enthusiasm while viewing it is rather uninspiring, to say the absolute least. And, finally, the story is practically and virtually non-existent here, with mainly just one long string of events taking place on multiple planets barely even managing to keep the film afloat. So, while Pitch Black was definitely a R Rated movie, The Chronicles of Riddick received a PG-13 Rating from the MPAA, but even this time around, it is still a moderately strong PG-13 rating: there is virtually non-stop action violence throughout the film, starting off with a intense chase sequence, and ending off with a bloody dual between the films main hero and villain, but in between that, is a long series of battle sequences and destruction, multiple hand-to-hand fights, killing spree's and even some implied torture. Also, there is occasional sensuality, with some bodily groping and passionate kissing between couples. And, finally, there is infrequent but very strong profanity, including 2 uses of F--k, and slightly more uses of sh-t, g-dd-mn, a--h-le, h-ll and more. So, even though David Twohy's intentions in creating a sequel to his cult favorite where relatively admirable enough, he just couldn't handle the massive budget and scope that he was given, and for that, his art paid the price. Oh well.