Thomas & Friends: The Great Race

Thomas CGI specials cover the entire range from great to terrible, and I'm happy to say that this one is probably the best (although Blue Mountain Mystery is another contender for that title). It has a huge cast of new characters, and while it sometimes feels like the writers were trying a little too hard to make Thomas the focus of the story, all the engines we know and love are not forgotten by any means.

There's one new character whose wheels and running gear appear extremely unusual. When I first watched the special, I was disappointed in the show for just making up a silly-looking engine with totally implausible workings, especially given how well the show usually incorporates real-life bits and pieces of railway history. Then I looked it up and found out the character actually is based on a real engine, albeit a very obscure one, and the real thing is every bit as bizarre as it looks on screen. I won't say who this character is, to keep this review spoiler-free, but keep an eye out for weird running gear and you'll know when you see the character.

There's one other thing that makes this special my favorite: the music. I usually don't like the songs in Thomas specials very much, but this one has two songs that are actually quite good (although, for adult viewers, all of the songs are still a painfully obvious reminder that the show is intended for little kids). I won't claim to actually enjoy a song from a Thomas special (heck, no!) but I will say that The Great Race has two of the most...tolerable songs of any Thomas special - and for once, these songs actually do help advance the story. I still think these specials would work better if they weren't pretending to be musicals, but these two songs don't feel quite as forced and out of place as most of the songs in other specials. (This special also has a couple of typically clunky songs, as well.)

Goodies: It Has Some Of The Best Songs Of The Whole Show

Thomas Going The Great Railway Show Is A Really Decent Concept

The Flying Scotsman's Return

The Sets Are Huge And Well Detailed

Baddies: Thomas Is Sort Of Unlikable, Because He Was Angry With Ashima Only Because She Nearly Pushed Him In The Sea

The Movie Is A Rehash To "Dream On"

The Movie Was Made For Pointless Merchandise, Like... The Thomas Through The Jawbridge Scene For An Example.

The Great Race Competition Only Lasted About 3 Minutes

Ashima (Despite Her Decent Design) Doesn't Have A Lot Of Personality In Her

My Rate: Okay.

There's a story in the original Thomas collection, by Rev Awdry, involving the Flying Scotsman, a relation of one of the engines on Sodor. In this film, he arrives on his way to the Mainland to join the Great Engine Show, an event Thomas thinks he should be a part of and tries to come up with ways he should.

The most noticeable thing about this story are the number of songs it contains. A few sound like Andrew Lloyd Webber pieces, and "streamlining" sounds a lot like "greased lightning".

The much reported exotic engines seem under used, given the hype - most of the story is focused on Thomas, which seems a waste to me - with a couple of exceptions. Ashima provides Thomas with a moral aspect to follow, and while Vinnie is a Canadian engine, it's hard to decide if he's really modelled on an American footballer, with his helmet. And it's a leap to include a train with overhead power and a pantograph; can't see Sodor copying that design.

It's nicely drawn, with the foreign engines looking like their real life versions.

The rest of the main steamy and diesel crews all play roles, and it's pretty obvious the story is a vehicle for toys (and given the current hype around the real Flying Scotsman, it's definitely tapping in), so if you're kids are into wooden railway or take 'n play, expect some new requests after you see this.

Just giving it a 10 to try up its rating. It's not bad compared to the utter dross that we get now this is good

This movie is overrated and unimpressing, after I loved the 2015 specials, it all falls flat, this movie is a mixed bad, mediocre and weird pacing, and that's about it

4.2/10.