ThomasNATION Movie Reviews - King of the Railway
April 13, 2024
After years of travelling the globe, the earl of Sodor, Sir Robert Norramby, returns to the island to rebuild the long-abandoned Ulfstead Castle...and yeah, that's all there is to it.
The first question you may have regarding its synopsis may be somewhere along the lines of "that's it?". And that's the best way to address the big issue with the story: at the surface, it leaves a lot to be desired. For the most part, the movie consists of four major plotlines: the earl rebuilding the castle, Gordon and Spencer racing, Stephen finding a new job and the mystery around Ulfstead Castle. The way the plots are strung together feel very loose and flimsy to the point where it shares the same issue as another special; Calling All Engines, in which it feels like four episodes edited together into an hour-long narrative, filling in the gaps with some additional subplots and lackluster musical sequences. However, the one major benefit to this plot is the additions to the world building. The history of Ulfstead Castle is very interesting, helped by the fact that it was pulled straight from the words of Reverend Awdry himself, from the castle lore to Norramby himself. I'll also give credit that once Stephen gets stuck in the mine, the movie picks up a bit and becomes more focused, in spite of a fairly low-stakes climax. Is that enough to salvage the story? Honestly, not really, but I have to give it props for trying.
I know I'm going onto the character section of the review, but another big issue with the story is that in a way, there's no concrete main protagonist. For one half of the movie, the lead is Thomas, but then the narrative shifts to become about Stephen. But that's not the only gripe I have with the characters in this film, and for that, we need to get into the characters themselves. First, you have Millie, the earl's private engine, and Connor and Caitlin, two streamlined engines from the Mainland. The reason I compiled these two together is because all three of them share the same issue: they're all enjoyable characters, sure, but they barely add anything to the story. Maybe Connor and Caitlin serve a bit to Gordon and Spencer's plot, but even that's a bit of a stretch.
Then there's Sir Robert Norramby, the eccentric earl of Sodor and the main source of both the movie's driving force and humor. As a whole, he's a pretty entertaining character, giving off the same vibes as a cool grandpa and leading to some of the film's funnier moments.
Then, you have Stephen. If there's one reason you should check out this film, then here he is. He's easily the film's best character with a great design, a personality with a lot of charm and wit, a fantastic performance by Bob Golding and a phenomenal backstory. I love how they implement the Rainhill Trials into his lore - it's a page straight out of railway history and the animation during that sequence is great.
And before we get into that part, I should also point out that this film marked the grand return of Jack the front loader. While I'll be honest and say I never got used to his square face, I was shocked to find he actually plays a pretty significant role in the film's climax, so it was cool to see him be prominent rather than just a novelty.
Then you have the movie's animation. Like I said, this was the first Thomas film to be animated by Arc Productions. So as a result, it doesn't look 100% perfect, as evidenced by the shading and the lighting. But with that said, the animation is still great. One major bright spot is with the locations, especially Ulfstead Castle. The estate grounds look phenomenal and the castle itself is full of regal architecture that fits right into the Sodor set. I'll even give credit to the mines Stephen gets lost in. Granted, they aren't as creative as Morgan's Mine from The Great Discovery, but it still holds up with the labyrinth of turns and overall claustrophobic nature. But the best part of the movie is when they shift art styles whenever they go into the past, such as Stephen's backstory being dressed with engine schematics and the story of King Godred being told through a storybook. They're both really inventive and packed with great attention to detail. Overall, for the team's first take on the series, it ain't half bad.
Overall, King of the Railway ended up being a fine enough movie. Its unfocused story, lame songs and mostly pointless new additions, but the decent animation, likable characters and great worldbuilding hold it up a ton. In general, even if it's not the greatest, it's a hard film to be that mad at, since it was clearly their first attempt at a tentpole feature, so for that alone, I recommend it. As for the rating, I've been thinking on it for a little bit, but I'm gonna give it a 3.5/5. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to take this review and translate the whole thing into Polish. If you know, you know.
Final Score: 3.5/5
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