Review: Thomas & Friends Journey Beyond Sodor

Despite the fact that he’s been around for years, Thomas is still getting into mischief on and off his branch line.

This summer he’s having a whole new adventure, as he leaves the familiarity of Sodor in search of adventure, in the new Thomas & Friends movie ‘Journey Beyond Sodor’. Which is obviously a very apt title.

The great thing about Thomas is that he appeals to all ages. Despite the family ranging between 3 and 40, we were all excited to watch the movie and find out what Thomas and his friends have been up to – and it began with James winding Thomas up, singing a catchy song which had us all smiling (even though it wasn’t a very kind song, aimed at making Thomas mad. Actually that’s probably why the kids liked it so much, it’s actually very reminiscent of our house during the summer holidays with each of the kids trying to annoy their siblings as much as possible).

Anyway, Thomas predictably goes into ‘I’ll show YOU’ mode (also very reminiscent of our house) and decides to deliver trucks to the mainland by pipping James to the post, picking them up whilst James is still snoring away. But is it really a good idea to head off to the mainland when you’ve never been there, and you have no idea where you’re going? Of course it doesn’t all go as planned…

…but Thomas does make some new acquaintances on the way. We were introduced to the slightly menacing Hurricane (who had D hiding under her hands for a little while, although she soon got over it) and the somewhat misinformed Merlin, who is convinced that he can become invisible at will.

From the beginning of the film – complete with warm up of ‘the wheels on Thomas go round and round’ which was a one off for our showing but of course, you could sing it yourself – right through to the end an hour or so later, everyone was engrossed in the action and rooting for Thomas. If you’ve got little ones it will most likely be a big hit, and a great length for a first cinema experience too.

Talking about the cinema, you can watch the movie in one from Friday 25th August, and/or choose to pick it up in DVD format from the 16th October.