Well, I found the time to watch In The Beginning on DVD this morning. I rather liked it, as I remembered, although I have a few observations.
First, the fanboy gripes:
--The introduction, with our characters circa 2262 speaking to the camera felt unnecessary. The movie should have started with Londo's 2278 framing sequence.
--I understand it was a matter of scheduling, and money, but the way Sinclair is nowhere to be found until he suddenly appears at the end of the movie in a combination of stock shots from various first season episodes feels off. If anything, he should have a scene where he heads the President's call to battle. And the fighter pilot dialogue, mostly taken from A Sky Full of Stars, doesn't seem to fit with the new (extremely cool looking) special effects.
--In that vein, the old footage and the new footage of Delenn onboard the Gray Council Ship doesn't always match, although most of it does.
--The contrived way in which Sheridan, Dr. Franklin, and G'Kar are all thrust together on a last ditch mission to save Earth, despite the fact that (a) Both G'Kar and Franklin act as if they had never met Sheridan before in early season two and (b) Sheridan hardly seems expendable, as the General says, since he's the only propaganda tool the Earth Alliance has. It would be one thing for him to request to go back to the fight, a la Ira Hayes in WWII, but he's ORDERED to go on what appears to be a suicide mission. And then they manages to meet Delenn, and somehow are let free. It's a good thing they waited to use the triluminary until Sinclair showed up--otherwise they might have never found out about the Minbair souls, and certainly not Valen's soul.
Second, the compliments:
--Londo's framing sequence is wonderful, and makes this, in my opinion, perfect material to watch before Sleeping in Light.
--It's nice to see the General who faces off against Sheridan in Endgame appear again here, in the past sequences.
--It's great to see Londo on Earth as well.
--They do a substantial job making Sheridan look younger with the short hair cut and his performance as an unsure commander. Franklin doesn't look a bit different to me, but I guess there's only so much you can do, and he doesn't have many scenes as it is.
--The music is magnificent. Of course I have the album, and enjoy listening to the final track (The War/The President's Call/etc...).
--The effects are spot on. They really sell the scale of the war.
--It's nice to see more of Dukhat, and Delenn's first meeting with the Vorlons.
--The movie demonstrates the true scale of the Babylon 5 universe in a number of ways. That goes a long way.
Grade: A-
I graded Thirdspace as an A- way back when. I was probably a bit too generous. If I were to go back, I might re-evaluate it as a B+. In the Beginning is by far the best Babylon 5 movie.
