I'll move the main review into the extended entry, to avoid spoilers. But here's the one line review.
This movie was completely adequate. Average. Nothing special.
I'd like to say it was awful, but it wasn't quite that bad. I've heard they made the director cut 25 minutes of it, which could very well explain the bits that were, well, never explained.
I'm disappointed. I wanted this to work. I had some hopes for it to be a good movie. But alas, it was not to be.
The problem was this: the first movie was a unique take on a horror flick. It wasn't your standard horror/slasher/gore/monster film. It was surprisingly good.
This movie was an attempt to move from horror film to straight-up action film. And all it ended up being was a mediocre, average action film. There was nothing unique to it. No twists, nothing surprising, nothing new.
The action/fighting scenes were American-ized. Too many quick cuts/edits, making it /extremely/ hard to follow, and easy to get lost as to who was winning.
Judi Densch was neat, but had little to do. I wonder if she was paid a lot for the film. I hope so. I'm reminded of Jeremy Irons in the Dungeons & Dragons movie, but Riddick was hella better than that piece of shite.
Karl Urban made me squee, but just because he's Karl Urban.
Thandie Newton continues to be pretty. But every frelling time she said "flawless," I kept adding "victory!" to the end of it, from Mortal Kombat.
Colm Feore was ... eh. He was. One dimensional villain.
Alexa Davalos was decent as Jack/Kyra. But like some Pitch Black fans I know, why did they not get Rhiana Griffith back? Was she not athletic enough for their new Jack? The new girl sure is pretty, tho - prettier than when she was Gwen on Angel.
Vin Diesel -- needs to relax. And get back to acting. He did it in the first film. He did it in Iron Giant (yes, the voice over was acting!). He can do it. He just needs to try, and better material.
They really expanded the Pitch Black world, and in ways that, to me, don't make sense. Elementals, Necromongers, Furions - all suddenly introduced into a world that previously had only humans and monsters, on one lone planet. I'll give you monsters on other planets, but this whole thing was too much, too soon, for me. This is supposed to be a series of films. Did they have to do EVERYTHING in this one??
Meh.