It was rushed. Terrible organization of scenes, none of it made sense.
My big problem with Chronicles of Riddick wasn't any of the cinematography or plot or anything like that... It was the jump from a sci-fi setting to a fantasy setting.
Check the Directors Cut. Enjoyed it a lot. Not confusing at all like the theater release was.
The director's cut is actually worse, in my opinion, than the theatrical release.
During the big brawl on the prison planet there's a kind of explosion that kills a pile of badguys and knocks Riddick out. In the theatrical release this is some kind of energy pistol exploding for some reason. In the director's cut this is Riddick channeling the anger of all the dead people from his home planet.