Babylon 5: Thirdspace

Well, humm. Let's see. Odd plot, long dialogue, and an odd context that doesn't fit into B5 at all certainly take their toll on this movie. I must admit though, the suspense, action, and great special effects for a T.V. movie make this reasonably good. Strong performances from all the actors certainly helped make this movie better than most, but it was still sadly dull.

A full length film set outside the story 'arc' of the TV series, but still within continuity. The special effects are the best that television can produce - a Babylon 5 hallmark. The plot however is slightly plodding. Not quite enough story ideas to sustain the plot. The never ending fistfights on the station contrast the brilliant special effects battle outside the stations hull. For fans of the series there are some nice touches, but it can be watched without knowledge of what's gone on before, although no time is spent on establishing the major characters. The major cast are all comfortable with their roles and it shows, the acting is good for this style of film. A fantastic looking and sounding film but slightly slow in parts.

The basic story of "Thirdspace" is rather straight and simple, it could have been told in the time span of a regular B5 episode without being hasty. So, what makes "Thirdspace" interesting to watch, if you like this kind of sci-fi movie, more than the story or the not-too-overwhelming quality of acting, is its strong symphonic side - the synthesis of (CGI) images and Franke's score into a "space symphony" sometimes even resembling "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". It's not as elegant, though. "Thirdspace" is faster and somehow rougher, there is less sheer grandeur (well, it's a TV movie), but still... one can enjoy much of it indeed, literally, as a moving picture with music. What I also would like to mention, though, is Patricia Tallman's performance - distinctly more inspired and refined than what we saw in the preceding B5 episodes.

An interesting show, being slightly different than the normal series, in that it seems to be trying for a Lovecraftian theme, in the ancient all-powerful horrors from beyond space try to take over everything and kill all life. As in the series, great special effects, with the acting at the same good level.

A reasonable outing.

B5 - and JMS writing in particular - works better when not contained to standalone episodes. Give him space to breathe, and his musing flows far better. He has room to comment, moralise and philosophise beautifully. Give him a single story and he tries to cram in too many explanations and plot movements which start to clog up the script. This is a pity as the script is what he is good at.

So a nice story, but a little uneven. Sometimes continually underlines the same plot points over and over killing room for nice stand alone dialogue or character exposition. Other times, the character scenes (the lift scene ) are too long an neither help the story or offer any depth for their duration.

That said, the SFX is very nice, the music from Franke is far more classically orientated than before and it's a nice chance to try and highlight some of the minor characters. The story idea is reasonable, if a little unusual in scifi tone for B5 (befitting Trek more) and it lacks some of the regular B5 heavyweight actors (G'Kar and Londo are sadly missing and Delenn has few scenes).

Nevertheless, an enjoyable if a little vacuous compared to what one comes to expect from B5. The aural and visual experiences are good, the actors are solid and the story good enough to standalone. Not perfect, but still a good slice of pulp scifi action.