Babylon 5 - O Rio das Almas

I'm an admitted Babylon 5 fanatic, so I looked forward to seeing this film with some anticipation. And imagine my surprise when Martin Sheen waltzed into the screen! I thought he did a very good job. The film was pretty good - for some reason the films seem weaker than the series, most likely because they don't really fit into the web-like plot structure of the series.

Usually, JMS and his crew do a great job. There is no argument that Babylon 5 may have been the finest science fiction series ever to come to television. In this entry in the long series of good films, however, things become a little more slack, and the result is an uninvolving, mildly amusing detour. A Dumb subplot involving the fight with a virtual brothel does nothing to help this film; it is, in a sense, weighted down by the inability of the producers to add anything new into the Babylon 5 universe. Instead of generating a strong storyline, the creators have opted for a plot about a lost "river" of souls and the claimant who arrives unexpectedly to collect his stolen property. Martin Sheen as the alien "soul hunter" is one of the most ludicrous examples of miscasting since Tom Selleck as King Ferdinand in Christopher Columbus: The Discovery.

I'm a big fan of Babylon 5, which I thought was probably the best example of serial Space Opera ever put to film- even better than Star Wars or any of the ubiquitous Star Treks.

This film features two very good guest stars- Ian McShane and Martin Sheen. Fans of McShane from Deadwood or Kings are probably going to be disappointed here. His performance is relatively understated. Sheen portrays a "Soul Hunter" tasked with recovering a race memory that the hunters stole, only to discover the race was on the verge of reaching a higher plain of existence.

This is mostly a showcase for Tracy Scoggins as Captain Lochley, and she does a really good job here. She was considered and rejected for the role of Janeway in Star Trek Voyager, and you can see where it was truly their loss.

The problem was, with this as well as "Thirdspace", that the purpose was to create a Babylon 5 story outside the Five year Story arc. Sheridan and Delenn and G'Kar and Londo are the big players, this is the bit players having a bit of fun, but it's not crucial to the story.

Still, there is just enough fun here to make it enjoyable.

Like Thirdspace before it, River of Souls attempts to put the supernatural into the B5 mythos (via Lovecraft to some degree) and give it a science fiction spin. While it doesn't descend to the levels of Star Trek's "metaphasic spirit" techno-babble, it still comes across as a bit odd. There are interesting performances by Martin Sheen and Ian McShane, and some follow-up on aspects of the B5 universe (such as the Soul Hunters, and Garabaldi's management of Edgars' Industries). But at the end of the day, it doesn't seem to add up to much. The B plot seems like an attempt to insert some broad comedy (it is funny, just unnecessary), and an excuse to put Tracy Scoggins in a skimpy outfit. Overall, an adequate entry into the B5 series, and more connected to the "mythos" than its predecessor, Thirdspace.

Well I gave this movie a 7. It was better than "Thirdspace" but not as good as "In the Beginning" as far as the B5 movies go. I really think the television series did a much better job overall with the special effects and character portrayal. Let's hope the producers and cast get the next series "Crusade" up to the standards of B5.