ThomasNATION Movie Reviews - Misty Island Rescue
April 10, 2021
Oh, boy…
So, let’s begin with a little history on this film. Misty Island Rescue is the backdoor special to Season 14, released way back in 2010. But even with that, that’s not why Thomas fans remember it. There is one title this special has gathered over the years; and much like how Sodor’s Legend of the Lost Treasure or The Adventure Begins is often considered the best, Misty Island Rescue is widely considered the worst. But I’m here to take a look at it and see if that title is earned. So, is it truly the worst of the worst, or will I be that one voice in the background saying it’s actually good? Let’s just get this over with.
The story focuses on the Search and Rescue Centre being constructed, but a mishap with Diesel leads to the building materials, that being Jobi wood, getting lost. So Thomas has to set out to find more, but a mishap leads to him getting lost and ending up on Misty Island.
To begin, the story continually makes stuff up as it goes to the point where new revelations just feel like obligated plot conveniences. For example, Hiro says Jobi wood is exclusive to Japan, but then, oop, there’s some on Misty Island. Thomas has to wait for another ship to come in, but there just so happens to be a tiny little raft attached to the ship. It’s implied that Misty Island was long lost, but as it turns out, it’s right next to Sodor, and there’s this random tunnel that connects the two islands. With these conveniences plaguing the story, it makes the film near-impossible to keep up with. Another major problem with the writing is the dialogue. Out of all the Thomas specials, this one possibly has the worst dialogue. Why? Because the majority of it consists of rhyming and the narrator stating the obvious. The rhymes the writing brings us are just so obnoxious, and frustratingly forced at times. Sometimes, it can try way too hard to shove in a rhyme every five seconds to the point where it only becomes annoying. Not only that, but the dialogue can be extremely repetitive, where Thomas would spout out the exact same line he said five minutes ago, as if the film is yelling out “HEY! DID YOU KNOW THAT THOMAS MAKES GOOD DECISIONS AND THAT HE’S BRAVE?!”. And that’s not even mentioning Ferdinand saying “that’s right” every time he’s on screen. If there is one minuscule thing to praise here, it would be that there is one decently sweet moment near the end when Sir Topham Hatt does find Thomas. I’ll admit, it’s a nice scene. But even with one good scene, that doesn’t excuse the story for being this muddled and annoying.
As for the characters, I’m gonna do something different from my past movie reviews and take a look at Thomas. I know that Thomas wasn’t the brightest in the Miller era, but this movie portrays him like a complete buffoon. He constantly makes bad decisions that only end up having poor outcomes, and apparently it’s okay because in his words, ‘he makes good decisions’, when in reality, he only made one. And even that had a negative effect, since it wound up with the Jobi logs getting lost.
Then you have the token newbies, the Logging Locos: Bash, Dash and Ferdinand. A lot of people say they don’t work as characters because they’re annoying as sin. While that is true, there is one other major problem with them: is it just me or are these guys completely insane? There are a few instances where it’s like they’re trying to kill Thomas for the sake of having fun. The best example of this is when Ol’ Wheezy throws a flatbed into the river, and Dash is just there all “wanna go for a swim?”. That, and these guys do deliver some of the worst jokes of the movie. Other than that, the only new character to mention here is Captain, who serves very little to the plot, but to be fair, he is the most likable character in the movie, other than Sir Topham Hatt, of course. Another aspect I’d like to add is that the voice acting is shockingly bad. Every actor in the film, with the exception of the Logging Locos who feel like they’re just overacting, sounds absolutely bored. Plus, some of the deliveries from the actors are just laughably bad. The biggest culprit is when Thomas finds Diesel taking the wood away, so Martin Sherman just shouts out "Stoooop...Diesel." Overall, the characters only add a level of annoyance and idiocy to the film.
If I did have to name the best aspect of the film, it would be the animation. For what it’s worth, it’s fine. To start off, the design of Misty Island itself and even the Logging Locos are at least pretty creative, making the island itself look like a rustic playground. I’ll also give props to the opening credits, which are animated gorgeously. However, even with that, you can definitely tell that as creatively designed as Misty Island is, its only real purpose with some areas is just to sell toys, like with the Shake Shake Bridge, and especially the zip-line area. But aside from that, with the film's low quality in mind, I can say the film is at least visually interesting.
So, let’s begin with a little history on this film. Misty Island Rescue is the backdoor special to Season 14, released way back in 2010. But even with that, that’s not why Thomas fans remember it. There is one title this special has gathered over the years; and much like how Sodor’s Legend of the Lost Treasure or The Adventure Begins is often considered the best, Misty Island Rescue is widely considered the worst. But I’m here to take a look at it and see if that title is earned. So, is it truly the worst of the worst, or will I be that one voice in the background saying it’s actually good? Let’s just get this over with.
To begin, the story continually makes stuff up as it goes to the point where new revelations just feel like obligated plot conveniences. For example, Hiro says Jobi wood is exclusive to Japan, but then, oop, there’s some on Misty Island. Thomas has to wait for another ship to come in, but there just so happens to be a tiny little raft attached to the ship. It’s implied that Misty Island was long lost, but as it turns out, it’s right next to Sodor, and there’s this random tunnel that connects the two islands. With these conveniences plaguing the story, it makes the film near-impossible to keep up with. Another major problem with the writing is the dialogue. Out of all the Thomas specials, this one possibly has the worst dialogue. Why? Because the majority of it consists of rhyming and the narrator stating the obvious. The rhymes the writing brings us are just so obnoxious, and frustratingly forced at times. Sometimes, it can try way too hard to shove in a rhyme every five seconds to the point where it only becomes annoying. Not only that, but the dialogue can be extremely repetitive, where Thomas would spout out the exact same line he said five minutes ago, as if the film is yelling out “HEY! DID YOU KNOW THAT THOMAS MAKES GOOD DECISIONS AND THAT HE’S BRAVE?!”. And that’s not even mentioning Ferdinand saying “that’s right” every time he’s on screen. If there is one minuscule thing to praise here, it would be that there is one decently sweet moment near the end when Sir Topham Hatt does find Thomas. I’ll admit, it’s a nice scene. But even with one good scene, that doesn’t excuse the story for being this muddled and annoying.
Final Score: 1/5
About the Author: JF the LOLZOR
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