Babylon 5: The Road Home

I am very grateful that this was made, especially considering it's been so long since we've had anything from the Babylon 5 universe. I am a big fan of the show, and I've seen every episode, movie, and spin-off. This had a little fan service in it, which I don't think it's a terrible thing at all, considering there's a chance it could be the last time we ever get anything from this universe, but there are a few things I'd change. Overall, I'm really glad we got this.

With some changes to the plight, this could've easily been a good two-parter from the original series, a season cliffhanger, or easily one of the Syfy channel movies that were made after the show ended. Without getting into story specifics, in its current form, this seemed to be a "let's give it one last hurrah, just in case they never let us do this again", but also a way to test the waters to see if B5 is still a viable franchise.

I'd love to see WB do a whole series of animated Babylon 5 stories, there is so much left to tell with the fallout of the Shadow War, and the minions the Shadows left behind, and the early days of the Interstellar Alliance. A lot of things were hinted at in the finale of season 4 (when they thought they weren't going to get picked up for season 5), and I'm sure there's a lot of material that Straczynski has left to give us.

My only real criticism is that the humor was very juvenile--I guess you could say--and not as witty as the original show's was (no, there were a few that landed pretty well). I'm not sure if I necessarily blame Straczynski for that, I see it as a very bad trend in animation, in general. The original series always had great jokes at just the right time, whereas the dialogue and humor this movie were more akin to shows like Avatar and the Dragon Prince, where it feels forced, and hits at all the wrong times. I know it's animation, but I don't really think there's a sizable audience under 35 that's watching this movie. I'd say the humor was geared towards preteens, where is most of the audience for this are probably 40+. The physics were off as well, but I have to go back and watch the originals show, as my current understanding of quantum physics is substantially better than when that show aired lol. All sci-fi makes up and/or exaggerates science, and that's perfectly fine, it's just some of their foreshadowing and emphasis on quantum physics and causality was cringe worthy to me, when you consider advance alien species and future humans are explaining them to you. Maybe if they did a series, they could hire a science consultant.

So, if you even like the original show, I think you'll enjoy this. If you LOVED the original show, I think you should go buy this movie right now. I jumped on it as soon as I found out this was happening. The extras are really good, about 17 minutes of talking about her behind the scenes process, and started out by mentioning all the actors who are no longer here to reprise their roles. I watched it immediately after the movie.

I'm very grateful to WB for producing this, Straczynski for still giving us B5, the actors that came back (and brought their love of the characters with them), and everyone who is involved in making this. I would absolutely be in for a series and/or more movies.

Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to go back and watch some of my favorite episodes,

I was a little apprehensive when I heard the big announcement that it was an animated feature, turns out I needent have worried.

So many franchises are barely recognisable to their original fans. Whether thats for better or worse depends which side of the argument you are on.

But with Straczynski keeping the helm steady, B5 managed to make the jump from live action to animation and still feel like authentic B5, along with providing us an entertaining and enjoyable standalone story as well as a secret door option for a reboot/continuation, without undoing or ruining what came before.

Seeing so many beloved characters back in the screen was heart warming. Knowing exactly how many have been recast because the the actors/actresses died young is heart breaking.

But seeing everyone go around one more time was a genuine treat.

It is absolutely great to see B5 return after so many years; a feat very few franchises are able to pull of after decades ... and with so many of the original cast still able to participate in the project none the less. Unfortunately, quite a number of the original cast have "passed beyond the galactic rim" in real life and leave a bit of a sore wound in their place.

Pacing seems to be all over the place for the movie's 75 minute runtime. Many of the scenes feel rushed and then - occasionally - things get overtly leisure for a while for no obvious reason before again getting all hurry-up-galore. I will need to have a rewatch to figure out if there is a deeper meaning for this, but on my first watch... it just felt misplaced. And talking of misplaced ... I remember the original B5 series having a great sense of humor with gags and jibs that "worked" in context. In "The Road Home", for the most part, stuff felt so out of place.

Now with all that having been said, I still feel like this does deserve a 7/10 rating. I may be rating somewhat high due to the amount of nostalgia, but ... that's just the same gut feeling, which guides most of my ratings.

A welcome return to B5 for fans, but confusing for newcomers. A bit like an indy band getting back together to do a remix of fan favorites as a teaser for their new album.

The story was classic B5 epic stuff, but found time for some character moments and other stuff fans dig about the franchise. Most of the humor worked, though one Zathras remark felt a bit meta and probably could've been saved for the DVD extras.

The look of the uniforms, environments, etc. Was faithful to that of the original series and its spinoffs. The B5 station, ships, planetary surfaces, etc. Were a solid compromise of the series' CGI and the movie's animated style. Obviously, the animated approach allowed the movie to give the visuals a scale the original TV series couldn't.

It was of course great to hear the voices of Boxleitner et al again, and if I hadn't known better, I'd have thought they used archived audio clips from previous B5 projects for the voices of Franklin, G'Kar, Delenn, Garibaldi, etc.

Like most franchises, B5 has had its ups and downs. The Road Home is a vast improvement over Legend of the Rangers and Lost Tales. Whether the rumored reboot TV series is animated or live action, The Road Home is a fine place to restart.

You will like this movie (for the most part), if you like the original show, 3D cartoon animation in general, and if you don't mind that this is the 3rd multiverse movie of 2023 (after Flash and Across the Spiderverse).

My two major complains about this movie are the weak direction and the face design of most of the characters. Their eyes are too far apart and sometimes it is hard to recognize them (I confused Lockley with Ivanova a couple of times). Also the Shadows are not terrifying at all and they look like a generic bug-like enemy, as it is the first time we see them so clearly. The movie would have looked great 20 years ago, but now, these 3D models and the spaceship action scenes feel a bit amateurish and visually outdated, to the point where it looks more like a cel-shaded videogame. And I say that as someone who tried to create 3D cartoons back in 2004. That said, most of the characters are here, and there are many different settings, that must have been a lot of work to model and animate.

Thankfully, I'm here for the story, which I find it to be fine for a cartoon movie (but perhaps not for a live action movie). Plot-wise, it might feel a bit too convenient that Sheridan travels to the most important places, in the time of need for the plot to happen, but at least it is explained in a "scientific" way (unlike the convenient teleportation of only spidermen in the movie Into the Spiderverse). Of course, if you've seen the series, you must suspect that everything should return back to normal by the end, without perhaps any world changing events. So, it's not so much about Sheridan's destination, but about the journey. And as far as his journey goes, it is decent one and it has a few surprises, but it also has some flaws.

The dry humor is somewhat amusing, but it didn't make me laugh, and sometimes it was placed in serious situations where it didn't fit. For example, when Sheridan jokes about Celsius and Fahrenheit after everything he has been through... it feels very out of place. Also, I do think the Celsius and Fahrenheit debate should have been solved by 2260. Then, they waste time talking about Sheridan's story, but they don't believe him and THEN they call a telepath to confirm the story. Man, you are in a hurry and you talk like it's the most relaxed day of your life! Come on! It's times like these when the pacing feels off. If I was on a tight and unknown deadline, I wouldn't make jokes or engage in small talk... I would get straight to the point and get things done.

I love that the story visits almost every familiar character, and that wouldn't have happened in a movie otherwise, because most of the cast has sadly passed away. I'm glad that their cameos wasn't a mere a checklist to be shown for shock value or fan-service (like in the Flash movie). We get to witness many key events and alternative timelines, like what happened with the Icarus in Zahadum and the destructive creativity of the Vorlons if they lose the war. It is like a gallery of the best events that the creator, JMS, could come up with, to please the long time fans and to lure new audience. I suspect that the target audience was also kids, due to PG-13 rating, which is understandable from a financial point of view.

This is essentially a mini anthology of what-if scenarios that don't add a great deal to the B5 lore. This is good because it is a neat stand alone story, and it doesn't conflict with the B5 lore and there are no plot holes. But it also may be bad, because it could feel quite all over the place if you haven't watched the show. On the other hand, the many plot points may spark the curiosity of any new viewer that may want to learn more about what happens in the show. I guess it feels like a piece of a puzzle that you didn't know that it was missing. So, even though I'm not crazy about the visual style or some lighthearted story beats, we must accept that the only way to have more Babylon 5 on the screen, is through animation. And I would love to see the B5 comicbooks and novels converted in this format!

If this is a pilot for a new series (like the first B5 movie was), please, have someone to check the animation and the story quality. For example, the Shadows could run instead walking fast, Lyta could use her own weight to pull the lever (or telekinisis), the dramatic moments feel weak and lack a punch, and in the final scene when the camera moves away from the Babylon station... the background remains static! This is a mistake only an amateur would do. Of course, translating characters into "drawings" is a huge challenge. And the director has done many LEGO DC films that I like. So, I don't know what went wrong here. Again, if this is a pilot, it can be excused, because even the first B5 movie was rough around the edges and we moved past it. All that said, I prefer watching a series of this quality, than Star Trek Lower Decks or any of the Star Wars animated series. I tried them, and I find their stories, humor, character arc and action to be very weak and childish.

Animated movies are not cheap or easy to make and direct. And it is easy to judge and nitpick every tiny detail. But we should admire and respect the work and effort that went in on this project, despite its flaws. The Babylon 5 spirit is there, and that's what matters the most. And if this movie is a proof of concept that sparks an animated TV series of some lost B5 chapter... that would be awesome!