The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) / YMMV

Alternative Character Interpretation: The Purifier's Secret Test of Character conversation with Vaako is obviously a Loyalty test. It's not clear if he's acting on the Lord Marshall's behalf to ensure that Vaako isn't plotting against him, or, given the Purifier's later actions, if he is feeling him out to see if he'd make a potential ally against the Lord Marshall. Probably the latter, as the Purifier is earlier seen subverting the Lord Marshal by setting Riddick free from the Quasi-Dead after he realized Riddick is a fellow Furyan, and much later explains to Riddick how the latter has an opening to assassinate the Lord Marshall.
Broken Base: There are those who deeply disliked the changes made to Jack/Kyra in this film, going from an innocent and eager fangirl who went as far as to shave her head to look more like her idol into (in their opinion) a generic hot action girl with none of her previous traits. Those that disagree however find this to be a perfectly acceptable character development as A) she is older now and B) a lot of what we thought we knew about Jack was actually just an act.
Complete Monster: In the extended cut, Lord Marshal Zhylaw was once given a prophecy by the air elemental Aereon that a Furyan would one day kill him, so he exterminated their entire race in a "private war" and personally strangled newborn infants. After becoming the holy half-dead Lord Marshal of the Necromongers, Zhylaw continues their genocidal campaigns, wiping out millions of colonists and forcibly converting the survivors. When one man objects to his demands for submission, he rips out his soul to make an example. Discovering that Riddick is the one prophesied to kill him, the Lord Marshal orders his death before trying to bargain with Riddick out of fear. He has Aereon captured to provide him with further revelation, charitably promising to spare her world "for last". During his final fight with Riddick, he also kills Riddick's close friend Kyra. While Zhylaw professes to the Necromonger creed, he was still willing to throw his warrior ideals out the window as soon as he felt truly threatened, prompting Commander Vaako to believe that he was no longer fit to lead them.
Ensemble Dark Horse:
- Vasilev and Anatoli, the main prison guards, have their fans despite being rather ruthless figures, due to them having some Properly Paranoid moments of intelligence (especially whenever Anatoli has a The Nose Knows concern), decent combat prowess, fewer sadistic moments than some of their coworkers, and an apparent Villainous Friendship.
- Dark Action Girl Ms. Fanservice Eve Logan (especially in the theatrical cut, which omits a Kick the Dog moment she has in the extended cut) and the unnamed Asian pilot from Toombs' mercenary crew have very little screen time but are regarded with a fair degree of interest due to having some jitters about the job but also showing some good fighting skills during the prison shootout.
He's Just Hiding:
- Husky Ruskie Anatoli could have just been knocked out and Left for Dead after being struck in the face and falling down a ladder during the race to the ship (especially after at least one Bounty Hunter survives a worse fall in the opening scene).
- There are fanfictions out there speculating Kyra is Only Mostly Dead and is revived by Aeron or Vaako as either a gift to Riddick or a form of manipulation.
- The Guv could have potentially survived having his back broken in his fight with Vaako.
Hilarious in Hindsight: The aesthetic of pale, dead-ish people and art featuring a lot of flayed corpses would tie nicely with a certain noble house that loves such things. Roose Bolton's sword◊ looks like it was forged by Necromongers.
Memetic Mutation: The "EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A VHS INTO THE SLOT" copypasta. ^note It makes about as much sense with context as it does without, but for those wondering, this originated as a random post on the FYAD subforum of Something Awful, and proceeded to take on a life of its own beyond what anyone could have figured.
Moral Event Horizon:
- The Crematoria Slam guards step into Wardens Are Evil territory when they release carnivorous hellhounds (with a few guards also being abusive to those animals) into the prison, seemingly just to cut down on the population and provide some amusement. This is followed up by how one of them gropes Kara afterward and three men with him seem approving or indifferent.
- The Lord Marshal's claims of being a Well-Intentioned Extremist feel a lot emptier after the reveal that he committed genocide against Furya just in an effort to Screw Destiny.
Narm:
- Count how many times Riddick takes his goggles off in dramatic moments in Chronicles. It's nearly impossible not to start giggling after a while. The odd part is, in Pitch Black, it's revealed that his night vision makes his eyes sensitive to light so he needs the goggles. In the sequel, this weakness is apparently gone since he whips them off every other scene, including one in which he gazes at explosions.
- Kyra's "Shit! I hate not being the bad guys!" Yes, we get it, you're edgy.
- Just that the villains are called "Necromongers". It's something of a miracle that all the performers managed to say that name every time without giggling. It doesn't help, either, that the Necromongers feel way too much like a Warhammer 40k faction that got sanitized to pass muster in a PG-13 movie. Which is kind of true, since they were inspired from 40K.
- The Lord Marshal says it's "been a long time since I've seen my own blood" when Riddick throws a knife at him. Problem is that despite the force of the blow knocking him off his feet, we don't see any blood because it's a PG-13 movie.
Older Than They Think: The whole movie looks and feels like a homage to the Dune saga, with story references to the Jihad, the Scattering, the Bene Gesserit "witches" and the planet burners. The ending in particular is a reminiscence to that of Chapterhouse: Dune, with Riddick himself playing Murbella's role.
Presumed Flop: Due to the film being frequently cited as one of the biggest flops of Vin Diesel's career, people are often surprised to learn that it made more than twice as much money as Pitch Black ($115 million vs. $53 million). It was technically a flop—but only in comparison to its budget, which was also significantly higher than that of Pitch Black.
Questionable Casting: Dame Judi Dench? Really? More details rescued from that page: Chronicles made some fans wonder "What the hell is Judi Dench doing in this film?" Vin Diesel wanted her so much, he sent a humongous number of flowers and bouquets along with the scripts to convince her. She complied after they met and bonded over Dungeons & Dragons (they both play).
Sequelitis: Compared to the cult hit that was Pitch Black, this one was much more divisive, with even defenders conceding Chronicles was an over-ambitious product that also broke away too much in tone and style from the grounded, gritty first film.
Signature Scene: Riddick and some allies racing across the landscape of a planet with a burningly hot sun to reach the only means of escape while their enemies take the same route underground and occasionally come up to shoot at them is the most talked about set piece of the film, especially with the Mêlée à Trois at the end of the race.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
- Riddick being at last captured and sent to a triple max prison on a hellhole planet where he reunites with a now jaded and cynical Jack would have made a fine enough plot on its own, without the frankly out of left field Necros and all the Space Opera. Tellingly, Escape from Butcher Bay would go with a very similar plot to this, and earned a lot more acclaim than the film itself did.
- Riddick's feud with Toombs also could have made an entertaining movie, with the two of them outwitting each other back and forth in a gritty (but fun) Escalating War instead of the by-the-numbers "The Chosen One defeats the evil horde" plot we did get.

YMMV / The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)

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