Movie Reviews Revisited P.II - Sodor's Legend Of The Lost Treasure (2015)

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE

SODOR'S LEGEND 

OF THE LOST TREASURE (2015)

Written by

Andrew Brenner

Directed by

David Stoten

Produced by

Ian McCue (HIT)

Jennifer Hill (Arc)

Release Date

8/09/15 - USA

23/09/15 - AUS

28/09/15 - UK

Distributed by

HIT Entertainment 

MY VIEWS

Honestly, I do like this movie. I do like its narrative, I love Thomas' character in the movie, I feel that he had gone through some good devlopment and his persona in this movie is something that can relate to kids and something that kids can learn from, sure we like to have a positive role model for children but kids also need to learn that not everyone is flawless and perfect unlike the 'Amazon moms' who thought otherwise back in 2015, so big thanks to them who wanted Thomas to be the bland good guy. I love the comedy that was Marion mistaking Oliver the excavator as Oliver the GWR engine, the little cameo easter of the Rev.W.Awdry was a very touching moment especially since this was released for the 70th anniversary including the inclusion of the Arlesdale Miniature engines, something that I never thought would've happened, and I love the scene with Henry running away from Sailor John and Skiff after they stole the treasure chest from the Fat Controller's office, the animation and lighting was superb and much better than what we got from KOTR and TOTB, the music by City of Prague was fantastic and it definetly made the Hartshorne go out on a high note. So those are my positives of the movie but there are some problems that I have with the movie, particulary the characters.

I'll start off with Ryan. I really feel that the rivalry felt very flat. Like the official webiste stated that Thomas saw him as a threat because he was more bigger and stronger than him but we never saw Thomas trying to be better than him at all during the movie, sure he had moved some flatbeds but it was more of him being ignorant than trying to be better than Ryan, I mean he'd never once acknowledged Ryan at all in that scene, and the only time the movie had ever acknowledged Thomas feeling threatened was when he was at the steamworks after his accident but Victor and Kevin reassured him and that was it. Plus Ryan didn't really have that much character too, he was just your bland generic happy engine. Sure his purpose was to work on the Harwick branch line but that's not a character trait. Originally he was suppose to be overconfident and dismissive and that, from his product description of his Wooden Railway toy, he was to look after Thomas' work while he was away at Harwick, I think that could've been a neat little story line and some character development for him or if they scrap that plot line in favour of Marion's plot line, because I think that was how the special was planned before they went with Marion since, as I heard, that the Arlesdale mini engines were a last minute idea, and retained his original persona (Ryan) and have that serving what we got now. Maybe have him like what Thomas was at the start, arrogant, cheeky, stuck up etc., of the movie and when Ryan came along Thomas and treated Thomas terribly, he realises that he was exactly like Ryan and apologises for what he had done earlier. Have Ryan go through some devlopment as well with his original persona as a tank engine version of Gordon, sure not original but unique still like Samson and like the steam engine villian idea, and thinks he was bought by the Fat Controller to replace him because he's stronger, let him deal with some conflict and then realises Thomas' own strength and then became a better engine. But we got this Ryan and I believe the powers that be were the ones who did that because Andrew Brenner did have to change the entire script, from what SiF had said on their old twitter account from memory before it was gone. 

Next is Sailor John and while I get that some in his fanbase loved him but to me he feels like a generic as well, please don't make a fuss as it's only my opinion. But I will say the late Sir John Hurt was fantastic at the voice. The character though, I never really find him that complex or interesting and he didn't have much of a motive on why he wants the treasure. I wish we know what it that got him into finding that treasure. Like sure the official website had stated that he was obssessed with finding it and OK that's good but why? Was it something precious? Was he related to the captain that buried the treasure and doesn't want it to fall into the wrong hands? Did he want to be rich? We don't know, he just wants it. I'm kind of into villians who are a bit complex and not just your one dimensional generic bad guy. I think Sailor John should've been like Sea Rouge from TUGS. He may look bad on the outside but on the inside he's a very different person. I mean James in TOTB at least had a reason on why he was a jerk to Percy, because he doesn't want to be seen as a coward himself among the other engines. In the end, he could've been improved better. I also think maybe the treasure could be the ship to get revenge on the navy for kicking him out.

Then finally, Skiff and I think he was the blandest newbie there is on par with Ryan and had his potential wasted for some character development. I didn't find him interesting and I think it was a missed opportunity to have the movie talk about toxic friendship if the movie had a longer running time. When you watch the movie, Sailor John beats him up, yells at him, harrassed him and even threatened to kill him, I mean there are some people who made a friend only to be used for their so-called friends misdeeds and I think they should've gone with that. Have Skiff just wanting to have a friend, have him go through with what Thomas was going through, feeling belittled by his bigger peers, then have Sailor John befriending him but only because he was using him to hide away from the law and to find the treasure into some small places. Skiff was happy and was in denial about the treatment from Sailor John that was until he met Thomas and when he saw how Thomas treats him like a true friend like maybe he was helping him not to runaway from the wind or being sympathetic about how he was treated by the bigger boats and ships goes and then he finally breaks through his denialism and saw that Sailor John was never a true friend. Once he found the treasure, Skiff was standing up to him about how he was horribly treated by him and how he was used and Salior John showed his true feelings about Skiff and maybe use the pirate ship as a getaway by dumping Skiff but then sunk due to wood rot. The whole theming of the 70th anniversary was about friendship and you think they might talk about that. There are kids who befriend someone only to be used for something in the end. This is why I liked Ace in 'Big World Big Adventures' because they showed the toxcity of his friendship with Thomas, he used Thomas to get to the salt flats in the US, belittled Thomas in front of the other cars to make himself look cool and Thomas had learnt who his true friend was and that was Nia whereas Skiff only had some development here and there. Sure an unpopular opinion to some but it was executed more better in the 2018 special than in this special.

Oh yeah and that scene with Duck being surprised by Donald and Douglas was unneeded but to be honest it still gave me chuckle on what the production team was trying to do with, it was a joke for the older fanbase. But for the young kids who are watching this, probably being new to Thomas, won't have any understanding of the context since these characters are new to them. Even when they're older and reminisce this special I belive they still won't get it unless they do their research, I think they should've ditched the idea and fill it up on why the line was being extended, after all we weren't given any reason for it. 

Plus I remember not everyone liking the Fat Controller's portrayal here. Thinking that he was too strict and it's not just a portion of the older fanbase, I'm also talking about the Amazon reviewers who had a problem with it and I think they were not really understanding where the Fat Controller was coming from. He's in charge of a railway, dealing with an extension and a tank engine being cheeky all at once, like a parent dealing with a kid and there own work and it could take such a toll of him. Plus the extension is rather costly and the scene when he scolded serverly at Thomas for dumping the dynamite had cost him money only to be wasted away by, from his perspective, Thomas' neglegence and cheekiness, I mean Thomas had create a large sink hole earlier due to neglegence. I mean even the scene when he saw Thomas pushing the trucks of explosives towards Ryan, you have to see it from his perspective. He wasn't there to see the whole picture. He wasn't there when Thomas told Ryan to watch out and because he's not interested in his excuse because he had trust issues with Thomas and if that isn't convincing then I don't know what will.  However I do think he should've apologised to him for being too hard on him and for not listening to him in the final act. I think his character was rather great and I think the song lyric from 'Thomas' Anthem' sums it saying;
 'The Fat Controller scolds him, but loves him just the same.' 

Look, I don't hate this movie. I think it was good as I stated earlier but I don't think it was the best special and maybe it was a little overhyped by the older fanbase over the years. I much prefer 'The Adventure Begins' over this because the characters were right and it was just a much more of a solid story. Lost Treasure had a good story, a great Thomas-centric special but its new characters could've been better.


OVERALL RATING
7/10