ThomasNATION Reviews - Marvelous Machinery
June 19, 2020
Hey all, JF here, and we’re back with another review, and let me tell ya, today, we’ve got an interesting couple of episodes.
Marvelous Machinery is Season 24’s designated two-parter special, in the veins of Season 23’s Digs and Discoveries, and is the second special of the season after Thomas and the Royal Engine. But before we get into Thomas’ journey to London, how does this special hold up? Let’s begin.
The whole special centres around a technology fair at Ulfstead Castle, organised by the earl and newcomer Ruth, an inventor from America. A New Arrival pretty much centres around the progress of the fair being set up, whilst World of Tomorrow is about all the cracking contraptions presented, while at the same time, a pair of thieves plot to steal the grandest invention to sell for a high profit.
Starting with A New Arrival, let me just clarify that this episode has one major problem: it is excruciatingly boring. It tries to have an overarching plot about the Steam Team worrying they’ll be replaced by the assortment of gadgets and gizmos, but both episodes barely focus on that and spends most of its time saying “Oh, look at that cool invention! Oh, check out that awesome contraption!” than actually focusing on a basic plotline. What doesn’t help is that the pacing in this episode is reminiscent of a snail, where sometimes the plot takes way too long to get moving, and only picks up a bit one time when Thomas has to chase down a speeding jet engine, and even that’s still surprisingly boring.
Another problem I have with the special as a whole is that I genuinely couldn’t get into Ruth’s character. Not that she’s unlikable or anything; in fact, she’s a lot like Nia in Big World! Big Adventures! in a way. Both are bland and uninteresting, while also having very little personality other than one-dimensionally kind-hearted, and they both have poor vocal deliveries from their actresses. I mean no disrespect towards Dominique Moore, she’s a good actress and her deliveries are better than Nia’s in said film, but the voice she gives Ruth is really grating. So yeah, A New Arrival is uninspired, bland, and shockingly boring…
…but what if I told you that World of Tomorrow is actually worse?!
The first problem with this episode is that despite being all about creative machines and inventions, it is extremely unimaginative. There isn’t a single invention in the episode that we haven’t seen a million times before, and some of the contraptions are surprisingly mundane, such as one inventor inventing a machine that…
...makes milkshakes. There’s no special technique behind it, it doesn’t do anything cool with how it makes them, it just makes milkshakes. The design of the machine isn't even that creative either, so it just comes off as a waste of potential.
They also try to make it seem like Kenji will play a major part in the episode, but he doesn’t have that much screen time until he becomes a getaway vehicle, so as a result, he just seems like a major missed opportunity. And then we have the big chase finale, where Baz and Bernie escape with stolen goods, while Thomas follows in suit, which has been done to death in the series. Heck, this exact chase was done in the previous season in Heart of Gold! I get that in a series that's gone on as long as Thomas and Friends, they'll have to start reusing ideas, but the way they do it in this special adds nothing new to the formula.
But perhaps the biggest problem of the special as a whole is that everything presented is extremely out of place in the Thomas universe. Thomas always had a down-to-earth and realistic tone to it, even in the Miller era. That, and it was pretty clear that it was set somewhere around the 1960’s. But this special just feels like it’s just clawing at the young audience’s attention span by showing off all the technology that we don’t even have in 2020!
However, to the special’s credit, there is one group of characters I do love: Baz, Bernie, and especially Sonny. Sonny’s a really interesting character, as he spends most of World of Tomorrow learning about how to be really useful and even deciding not to become part of a criminal plot. As for Baz and Bernie, they’re honestly really fun villains. They’re pretty much the typical “one is smart and cunning, one is dumb and goofy” villain duo, but they do deliver the most entertaining portions of the special through their banter. Plus I'll give Baz credit that he sometimes has some moments where he can be a bit threatening. The only problem I could find with them is that Bernie can be a little annoying, but that’s not much. Another positive I can name is that I like the joke where Ruth's hover car is revealed and a passerby comments on how he already has one, that was pretty funny.
Overall, out of all the specials since the team changed the format, Marvelous Machinery is hands down the worst of the lot. It has some good elements, especially with its villains, but overall, the special is just an absolute mess that can also be describes as boring, uninspired, and lazy. I don’t recommend this special personally. As for my ratings, A New Arrival earns itself a 1.5/5, while World of Tomorrow earns a 0.5/5.
Final Score: 2/5
About the Author: JF the LOLZOR
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