I watched this film after finishing the whole five seasons, all 13 episodes of Crusade and the other five films. I had already got the general idea from Babylon 5 forums that this film was not going to be good. But since I am a forgiving and merciful person and a big fan of Babylon 5, I thought I'd go soft on it.
However... the disappointments prevailed.
To start with- the Rangers. Every other comment touches the same problem: the Rangers here are nothing what they ought to be. These guys are impulsive (especially Ne'Feel and Sarah) and irrational and one of them (Tirk) is just plain stupid. How could such people command a Ranger ship (and a strange one indeed)? How could they even BECOME Rangers? And since when does the Grey Council judge them?
To continue with- the Hand. You may remember Delenn telling the B5 crew about the First Ones, Shadows being the eldest. You may remember Lorien, the eldest of all. And here we have a race, billions of years old, powerful beyond imagination, sensing their chance to conquer and destroy (or just destroy), whose ships fall to simple explosives in a life-pod...
To further continue with- the VR shooting and other minor points. It seemed quite interesting when Sarah first jumped inside, but the sheer impracticability of it and the ridiculous scenes that followed killed the idea off. After the ambassadors get on board, they complain and after that, they somehow disappear from the scene. And G'Kar is simply abused and flattened here.
To end with- I could dismiss the darkness and mist around the base on Minbar with thinking "it was at night, probably in industrial quarter". I could judge it as a pilot knowing that JMS has some tricks up his sleeve he would show later. I could appreciate the CGI. I could do all that and I still cannot find enough compassion for this film.
I am truly sorry it had to end like this.
However... the disappointments prevailed.
To start with- the Rangers. Every other comment touches the same problem: the Rangers here are nothing what they ought to be. These guys are impulsive (especially Ne'Feel and Sarah) and irrational and one of them (Tirk) is just plain stupid. How could such people command a Ranger ship (and a strange one indeed)? How could they even BECOME Rangers? And since when does the Grey Council judge them?
To continue with- the Hand. You may remember Delenn telling the B5 crew about the First Ones, Shadows being the eldest. You may remember Lorien, the eldest of all. And here we have a race, billions of years old, powerful beyond imagination, sensing their chance to conquer and destroy (or just destroy), whose ships fall to simple explosives in a life-pod...
To further continue with- the VR shooting and other minor points. It seemed quite interesting when Sarah first jumped inside, but the sheer impracticability of it and the ridiculous scenes that followed killed the idea off. After the ambassadors get on board, they complain and after that, they somehow disappear from the scene. And G'Kar is simply abused and flattened here.
To end with- I could dismiss the darkness and mist around the base on Minbar with thinking "it was at night, probably in industrial quarter". I could judge it as a pilot knowing that JMS has some tricks up his sleeve he would show later. I could appreciate the CGI. I could do all that and I still cannot find enough compassion for this film.
I am truly sorry it had to end like this.