About a year has passed since Blue Mountain Mystery was released in the US and the UK, which was well received among fans. This ended many things for the franchise. Nitrogen Studios stopped animating and Sharon Miller stepped down as head writer. Michael Angelis and Michael Brandon also left the show after Angelis was the narrator for 21 years in the UK since season 3 and Brandon for 8 years in the US since season 7 and 8. About nine months later after the movie, and after six months after The Christmas Tree Express aired during Christmas 2012, the first ten episodes of season 17 aired in June on Channel 5 Milkshake. About three months later, the next feature-length special King Of The Railway was released in the US and the UK on DVD and Blu-Ray. This was the start of many things for the show. Arc Productions started animating and Andrew Brenner was fully on board as the head writer, a position he would hold for the seventeenth season onwards. In terms of narration and voices, the voice acting stayed the same while Mark Moraghan filled in as the narrator for both the US and the UK, something that neither countries had seen in five years since 2008 where Pierce Brosnan narrated The Great Discovery. Was King Of The Railway an improvement over Blue Mountain Mystery, the best of the Thomas movies by far? If you wanna hear my opinion, read and find out...
1. Plot
The plot for this movie was great, as good as the previous movie. Again, there's a nice prologue, even if it didn't raise the bar for the movie at the start. There is great moral about restoration and learning to be more patient with telling people things you want to tell them. Was that put, right? Anyway, there's not much more to say about the plot but it was a good highlight of the movie so I'll give this category a 9.5/10.
2. Character Development
The character development for this movie was spot on. The new characters were developed quite well. All of them. Like Luke in the previous movie, Stephen was one of the two main characters alongside Thomas and the movie focused primarily on them. Another new character who I'm fascinated with is Millie. After all the snobbish female characters we've had over the years, Millie happens to be a strong example for young female audiences and it's clear where she has been while the estate still existed: while the Earl was away for so many years, she was kept in her shed and she works well as the Earl's private engine. Speaking of the Earl, he's a funny character, especially in his introduction at Knapford where he didn't realize that the party was for him. That always made me laugh where he says "it's looks like fun but carry on" or something like that. Connor and Caitlan are also great characters to brighten up Gordon and Spencer's rivalry a bit and speaking of Spencer, he plays a great role in this movie and he and Gordon almost had the same rivalry that they did in season 7. The Steam Team all seem about 99% of the the time. Percy is his inquisitive self and Thomas seems wiser than before in the HIT series. James' vanity seems to have been outdone by HIT, especially at the part where the three engines are arguing over who's going to take the train. Emily seems back in perfect character from the development she has had in the CGI series and Toby seems to be wise again. Edward, too, but I said about 99% of the time, didn't I? One part that I didn't like about Edward's character was that he was one of the engines who came to the SteamWorks to see Victor when he should have been out working. But, hey, he said that he did want to see Stephen for himself. It's nice to see Jack back but the reason why he never appeared after this, I'll never know. Also, I don't like how Thomas told Stephen about the surprise when he was instructed not to? No story without that, right? Diesel also seems to be in character under Andrew Brenner's reign. I think I'll give this category a 9.5/10.
3. Narration/Voices
The narration for this movie was outstanding. Mark Moraghan brings fresh new life into the series and he really sounds like he has fun with recording for the movie. I'm glad he stayed on board for the series after this. The voices were good but I never saw the US version of this movie so I can't judge those just yet. On the whole, I give this category a 9/10.
4. Visuals
For a start to the Arc Productions animation era, I'd say the animation was good here but not spot on like Nitrogen Studios. The contrast was a bit faulty and I knew this from just looking at the trailer back in January 2013. Arc got better as they progressed with the series. I give this category a 7.5/10.
5. Music/Songs
I really liked the score for this movie. Robert Hartshorne and Peter Hartshorne continue to bring the charm that they did in the two previous movies. As for the songs, they were a bit weak as compared to the previous movie. I did like reprise of Working Together but the other two songs Searching Everywhere and It's Gonna Be A Great Day needed slight tweaking. so I'll give it give this category an 9/10.
6. Length
This movie had a great pace to it. It seems as the characters were engaged within the story throughout, especially Thomas and Stephen and the characters who played smaller roles. I give this category an 9/10.
7. Writing
For Andrew Brenner's first movie, at least as head writer and not as script editor, I have a lot to talk about. It's hard to believe that, after Sharon wrote movies for four years, he seems to have topped her in a year. He bought the best in each character, except for that part with Edward at the SteamWorks and Thomas spilling the secret to Stephen. Ah, well, it's his first movie and I'll cut him some slack for that. A part of the script that really got me engaged was the following conversation between Toby and Gordon:
"Henry's broken down."
"Don't tell me he needs special coal again."
"No, Gordon. That was solved years ago."
I leaped for joy at that part and I always do when watching it. Toby played a great role there and there was common sense after Percy was asked to pull the train and Emily and Toby exchanged the following:
"But Percy's not strong to pull a heavy train..or whatever it was." (sry there. I don't remember all of what she said)
"I'm just a messenger."
Toby's character was outdone there from how it was over the past nine years and it's a shame that he only got one limited role in season 17 and had nothing to do with Tale Of The Brave but I'll get to that in my next two reviews. Back to the movie, one part after Percy arrived at the docks and was corrected by James that HE would pull the heavy train, Percy said that Toby told him it was his train and what James bought back some sort of a S15-esque moment:
"Toby? Since when does he tell other engines what to do?"
I don't think that was a big deal. Probably just Andrew Brenner diverging James into a more of the vain engine he was in the classic series. The climax was great and Jack's part in rescuing Thomas and Stephen bought back some season 6 nostalgia. Emily bringing Henry to the SteamWorks bought back some season 7 nostalgia and it truly defines her kind and helpful character that writers between S13-16 helped her to become once more. I especially thought that the mention of a ruler named Kind Godred was a good reference to the RWS. I'm giving this category an 9/10.
8. Direction
Rob Silvestri works pretty good as a movie director for Thomas, even if I liked the way Greg Tiernan directed the series with how the animation a bit better. Not much more to say, I'm giving this category an 7.5/10.
Overall Views:
On the whole, this movie was another great triumph from HIT Entertainment, especially with Andrew Brenner at the writing helm. It was a small step-up to Blue Mountain Mystery, though it would have been better if Rob Silvestri put in a little more effort on the animation. Not too much criticism there but he did a better job the following year. There a few problems with the movie that I've explained within my review so you can look back at that if you want see what they are. Also, if somebody finds the US version of the movie, please tell me where I can find it. Thank you very much. On the whole, this movie gets an accurate rating of 8.8/10. One last thing to say, I'd welcome a few new people to the world of Thomas, Andrew Brenner, Mark Moraghan, Rob Silvestri and all of Arc Productions as a whole. You're all destined for great things and will do great things as the series progresses on.
WHAT'S YOUR RATING?