Review by jimj-3

In my household we consider ourselves great Thomas fans, with visits to steam railways (on Thomas days), videos are rarely out of the VCR for long and the Rev Awdry's books are read nightly to my 3 year old, at his request I might add.

However this film has not got one grain of the magic of Rev Awdry's stories, the plot is drivel. The acting is as wooden as the trains themselves. Peter Fonda could have been replaced by a cardboard cut out for all he contributed to the film. Only Michael E Rodgers (Mr C Jnr) and Didi Conn (Stacey) gave performances which seemed appropriate for the film.

The new characters were too scary for younger children and the plot too convoluted for older ones. My children (3,6) did sit attentively through the whole thing, but have not mentioned the film since. Unlike Toy Story 2 or Chicken Run which they talked about a lot after seeing them.

Also the UK audiences have never seen Shining Time Station in any other context (we should be eternally grateful, it appears!) so the whole think has been botched.

"The gold is in the books,

the Thin Clergyman's tale

But Lady has her hooks

and Thomas' friends wail."

Jim Jackson