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Sunday, 1 February 2026

Thomas And Friends TV Series "The Truth About Toby" Review


When alot of people think of Thomas The Tank Engine nine times out of ten they think about the classic model seasons of the show. Yet not alot of them know that the show did carry on really all the way until just a few short years ago in CGI with it really being one of the CGI episodes that i'm going to be talking to you all about today and so then join me as I review the episode that sees Toby run into some trouble at the scrap yard with the episode in question being called simply just "The Truth About Toby" enjoy.

The plot of this episode is when Toby runs out of coal at the scrap yard he has to try and convince passing engines o help him out. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good with thus episodes being as delightfully dumb and yet simple as you'd want it to be from this era of the show which was something that does work really well for this episode as this is an episode that doesn't really require a deep plot to make it work as something having a plot thats more simple and easy to follow along with is something that does make it work all the more better with this episodes plot really does a good job of just letting the characters be themselves something upon which the later CGI seasons did take great strides in doing and it is something that does work really well in this episode as the plot of this episode as simple as it is works just as well because of how simple that it is with this plot not really being a plot that would work if it was a super serious as that would make the plot be alot less fun an lot less entertaining then what it really should have been as sometimes being a fun plot is alot more important then being super serious as that would feel out of place with this episodes set up and while the show has done super serious and dark episodes in the past they've always had the set up that allowed for that to happen with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.


Starring in this episode is John Hasler as Thomas and Keith Wickham as Edward , Henry , Gordon , James , Salty , Stafford and The Fat Controller. Also starring in this episode is Nigel Pilkington as Percy , Rob Rackstraw as Toby and Stanley , Teresa Gallagher as Emily , Annie and Clarabel , Rebecca O'Mara as Caitlin , Steven Kynman as Paxton , Maggie Ollerenshaw as Henrietta , Tim Whitnall as Reg and Mark Moraghan as The Narrator.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With all of this episodes actors turning in some really good performances which is something that does make alot of sense as alot of them have been playing these characters for decades at this point and therefor do have a good understanding of just who there version of these characters are in the first place with alot of them like for example Maggie Ollerenshaw having the perfect voice for there character with the best actor in the whole entire episode being Rob Rackstraw as not only does he have a fairly solid voice for Toby but he also gets to show of new sides to this character as all to often we see the brave ad sarcastic side of his character and yet we never really get to the more frustrated side of the character and that is something that Rob gets the chance to show us in this episode and it is something that does come through in his performance as you do sense that Toby is becoming frustrated with Reg with the fact that he does try and hold that back as Reg is  just doing is job is something that make Toby all the more frustrated with him with the acting that's in this very episode really being helped by the fact that the script for this episode was just so good that all this episodes actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and as good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.


For once I really cannot say just who it is that does the animation for this episode as there's no animation company listed anywhere online. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good as while CGI Thomas was in it's very early ears like season 12 early did have some very choppy looking animation to it by the time they got round to this season and Season 20 the show had started to have some actually good looking animation in it with this episode being a good example of that as you get to see the human characters doing things at the docks and you get to all of the characters look really good with the same thing even being true for the backgrounds as well as while this episode doesn't really allow for alot of interesting looking backgrounds due to the fact that it's mainly set at the scrap yard with there being very few locations but the episode does make up for this for giving some really unique looking camera shots like we get to see the camara placed sort of behind and at the side of Edward for a shot which looked really cool and is something that for obvious reasons the model seasons of Thomas just couldn't do and yet here in this episode we do get to see some really good looking shots all of which work well with the episodes already high bar of animation with the only thing that could have made this episodes animation even more better being if we got to see more stuff going on in the backgrounds which yes is a small thing but it's also something that makes the world that this show takes place in feel all the more real and lived in as well.


The big thing in this episode is that when Thomas , Annie , Clarabel , Henry and Edward all see Toby at the scrap yard they assume it's because of the fact that he's going to be scrapped. This is something that they are kind of right to assume as from there point of view that's exactly what it would look like however they then go spreading around the rumor that Toby is going to be scrapped when if just one of them had stopped to talk to either Toby or Reg The Crane to find out what was actually going on then that whole thing is something that could have very easily have been avoided and while it is understandable as to why that wasn't done in the episode as this is a kids show after all and nine times out of ten kids aren't care about logic there just going to care about the characters and that's really it and that's all well and good but at the same time tho this show did used to treat its kid audience with respect and not talk down to them but rather talk to them on a level and while this episode is great improved in that regard when compared to the earlier CGI episodes it still does make you wonder why the makers of this episode didn't bother to fix the issue of not having one of the characters just talk to Toby to find out what's going on as all of the characters do drive past in the episode and yet not one of them bothers to stop and find out what's going with this being something that very easily could have been explained just by having the characters either pulling passengers or being given a very important job to do by The Controller and that was just thought up in less then minuet and yet the makers of this show had go knows how long to come up with something that would make sense for the episode and yet they came up with nothing.

To be frank Reg was bit annoying in this episode as it felt like he was doing everything that he could do to stop Toby from getting help. As while yes he was just doing his job and really nothing more then that he was also not doing all that much to actually help Toby out as he was being very noisy when he was picking things up with his crane and had a bunch of scrap covering where Toby was so passing engines couldn't see him if they wanted to and while having an annoying character is something that can work if it's apart of the story just look at Phillip in the episode "A Shed For Edward" as a prime example of that but the characters did always know when to stop being annoying and start being helpful just look at Toby in the two episodes he did with Mavis back in season 3 where he actually gave her good advice on how to travel past a certain in the line where as here Reg just felt like he was being annoying just so the plot can happen which isn't fun to see as there was no way in heck that he couldn't have yelled out to quite literally any of the engines that pass him and Toby and as for there help as he could see the engines coming and the engine could quite literally hear and see him with even Edward yelling hello to him and yet he does nothing to help out his friend with it feeling like that this episodes Davey Moore was just stuck and couldn't come up with a good way to include this character and have them be apart of the story and so then he just had Reg essentially not do anything except for get on Toby's last nerve and that's really it which isn't enough of a reason to justify him being in the episode ads while yes it does give Toby someone to talk to in the episode it also makes you wonder why he doesn't get help for Toby the first chance that he can.


Seeing Toby's more frustrated side was something that was refreshing to see as for alot of the CGI series we only see the side of him that's two old with his old sarcastic side and his brave side very rarely if ever coming out. Yet in this episode we get to see a side of him that was fun to see with that being him just constantly getting frustrated with Reg something which is fun to see as Toby doesn't really come across as the kind of character who would get frustrated with someone as if anything that would be someone like Percy or Gordon for example as they very quick t anger if you say or do something that might upset but Toby never really gets annoyed with anyone with really the only time that Toby might get annoyed with someone being in the season 20 episode "Toby's New Friend" where Phillip follows him around thinking that Toby is just like him with the fact that he does get frustrated in this episode being something that does make you wonder why we've never really seen this side of him as we know he can be brave and sarcastic but seeing him get frustrated with someone is something that would allow for more fun and funny scenes with different characters as now we have a whole other side to his personality that could be used for some really good stories and could be used for some really good character interactions as well like it would be interesting to see him get frustrated with characters like Gordon or Emily as it's in there nature to have these big egos something which could quite easily clash with Toby's more down to earth way of doing things just like it would be interesting to see someone calm him down a bit when he gets a bit to frustrated like why not have Trevor The Tractor have a chat with him like he did with Thomas back when they first met or why not have him talk with Bertie as both of those characters can calm other engines down quite easily.

Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly eight minuets and forty six seconds. This is something that's pretty much the bogstandard running time for this show with the show actually getting more screen time over the years with this episode having the right amount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time and yet in saying this tho this episode really doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as the episode really doesn't take the time to fully develop it's plot as the episode is more focused on having things happen for non reason then it is on fully developing it's plot as there's no reason why Toby couldn't get his coal and there's no reason why he or Reg couldn't yell out of the other engines and there's no reason why those engines couldn't just stop and talk to him all of which are things that could have been talked about and made more clear if the plot of the episode was more developed with this even affecting the episodes character development as while it could be argued that the characters get there development in other episodes which would be a fair point to make as all of this episodes characters do appear in other episodes of the show and therefor they don't really need to have character development in every single episode it still would have been nice for the characters to get some sort of character development as then it would have shown that the characters are more then willing to grow with the extra running time that alot of these episodes did have and yet for one reason or another the makers of this episode chose not to give the characters any form of character development but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.


So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. With the episode having some decent jokes in like Toby forgetting to go and get his side plates mended at the end of the episode to even him forgetting to get coal something which could be argued is a joke with even alot of the scenes that Toby has with Reg having some decently funny jokes in them with the best joke in the episode being when Reg lifts up a car to wave to catch the attention of other engines only for him to drop it and end scaring Henry away because of it something which does work as Henry is meant to be the character that is more often then not the one that's most afraid of anything and everything with it also showing just how smart that Reg is as it's him that comes up with the idea to wave something colorful to catch the other engines attention it's just not something that does work out all that well for all involved with alot of this episodes bein g cute and funny jokes that will make little kids smile which given that this is aimed at little kids is something that does make sense as all of the episodes jokes do have to appeal to them and to be fair that's where this episode does shine as they will find all of the jokes in this episode to be really funny it's just that it would have helped the episode out quite alot if the episode did have some more outwardly funny moments in it as Reg can be a really funny character when he's given funny things to say and do in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.


Overall this is a decent episode that does give us a new side to Toby with it showing us that the makers of this show are more then willing to create good stories with this show again something which we do see quite alot more in the CGI era of this show with this episode being a prime example pf that in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad thigs that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 6.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co . Uk and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

Wednesday, 28 January 2026

Wonder Man TV Series SPOILER FILLED Review


Marvel releases alot of new shows and movies all of the time and yet they always give them alot of fanfare. Yet what many of you might not realize is the fact that they have a new show coming out and yet there remaining radio silent on it this is despite the fact that there usually really good when it comes to promoting things set in the MCU and so then join me as I give you my SPOILER FILLED review of the show that is basically a comedy show with the show in question being called simply just "Wonder Man" enjoy.

The plot of this show is when he goes up for a starring role in the remake of Wonder Man Simon Williams not only has to confront his own past but also the fact that Hollywood no longer excepts superheroes as actors all while dealing with Trevor Slattery. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show was in all honesty not that bad with this shows plot being one that you can see all pf the plot twists coming a mile away but due to how fun that the plot of this show you kind of don't mind that as what makes this shows plot work as well as it does is the character interactions between Simon and Trevor as they do bring out the best in each other and to be fair we do get some really fun and funny scenes with them but just because there interactions are nice doesn't make up for the fact that the plot of this show is one that is on of the weak side of things with this shows plot being so weak hat at times it was hard to tell just what the plot of the show was even meant to be in the first place as for a large portion of the show they just drop the part where both characters are up for roles in this movie and while that might be understandable if this show was twenty two episodes long as then you can have episodes that don't focus on the plot here tho as this is only eight episodes long every episode of the show needs to be about advancing the plot of the show with the plot of this show really being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.


Starring in this show is Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams ,  Arian Moayed as P. Cleary and X Mayo as Janelle Jackson. Also starring in this show is Zlatko Burić as Von Kovak , Joe Pantoliano as Himself , Demetrius Grosse as Eric Williams , Ed Harris as Neal Saroyan , Byron Bowers as DeMarr Davis / Doorman , Juliette Ortega as Melanie , Olivia Thirlby as Vivian , Shola Adewusi as Martha Williams , Dane Larsen as Brent Willard and Sir Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show was in all honesty really good. With it being crystal clear that all of this shows main actors really do know how to turn in a really good performance something which is helped by the fact that he show is lead by two really good actors in Sir Ben Kingsley and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II with the two of them having some really good chemistry with each other something which does help with there performances as it helps to make there friendship with each other feel more real and less forced with the pair of them even being the best actors in the whole entire show as the two of them really do get to show us just what it is that that they can do as actors and while Sir Ben Kingsley has been playing the role Trevor Slattery on and off for about ten years now and therefor does know how best to perform this character and still make him the lovable goofball that he is something he does put to good use in this show with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II being just as good with him proving that he can do the dramatic aspects of the show as well as the more comedic aspects as well with the acting that's in this very show really being helped by the fact that the scripts for this show are just so good that all this shows actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very show.


For one I really cannot tell you just who it was that did the CGI for this show as there's no effects companies listen anywhere online. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show was in all honesty really good while there really isn't alot of CGI in this show with the show using more practical effects that CGI effects what little effects that they do have in the show do look good with the show not only using CGI to create things like Simons powers or things like the ship in the original Wonder Man but also to do basic things like extent the set which is how CGI should be used as then your putting more of a focus on practical effects and while yes granted there will always be a heavy focus on CGI when it comes to superhero adaptations those that that blend the two together often come out all the more better as there effects come across as being more timeless as you can't tell what was really and what was done in a computer whereas with something like Attack Of The Clines or Rebel Moon both of which had next to nothing what was shot practically there effects now come across as being more dated and obvious to point out and yet with shows like this one it helps the show that you can't really tell what was real and what was done in a computer as that's what we've been trained to do these days due to there being so much CGI in both films and TV shows alike that it does come across as being really refreshing to see a show not use that much CGI and only use what was there practically on the day of filming.

SPOILERS START HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



It has been started by one of this shows executive producers Brad Winderbaum that this shows actually concludes a trilogy of stories. That trilogy being the fall and rise of Trevor Slattery a story which started all the way back in Iron Man 3 and continued in Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings with his story not really ending as while he does get sent back to prison this time it's a fully powered Simon that comes to help out his best friend after he pretended to be The Mandarin again after Simon accidentally uses his powers to cause an explosion to happen on the set of Wonder Man with this being something that the Trevor seen all the way back in Iron Man 3 would never have done as he was to much of a selfish person to do and yet due to what he went through and learnt in Shang-Chi he is able to form these kinds of bonds of people whilst still being his lovable goofy self with him here being pretty much forced to work for the Department Of Damage Control inorder to try and bring Simon in as they believe him to be this evil powerful person due to what's happened in his past and yet once he and Simon become these close friends Trevor decides to not work for them even tho it would mean him getting put back into jail due to his past crimes and while his story isn't by any means done as there are ways that you could bring Trevor back if this was the end of the character in the MCU then it would be a nice end for the character as he does in his own unique way get his happy ending and considering the fact that alot of heroes are now technically friends with him then it does open the door for Simon meeting up with Shang-Chi as well.

As villains the Department Of Damage Control aren't that very threatening as villains as for large portions of the show they don't really do any thing at all. With them only showing up very briefly once every few episodes if that and even then the only character one of them interacts with is Trevor himself and that's it when it would made more sense when towards the end of the show that they started interacting with Simon just as much as well as by the end of episode seven he finds out that Trevor has been working for them by spying on him anyway so it would make sense to have them come in and be more of a threat thus forcing Simon to use his powers and prove to not only them but other people as well that his powers aren't a threat to them and while yes there is chance that the department as a whole could play a much more bigger role on the films and be a bigger threat in the movies which is something that would make alot of sense as you want to save your bigger threats for the movies all that could do is make this shows version of them seem all the more weaker then what they already are as here they fail to capture one man but in all fairness to this show they are uses as effectively as they could have dine given the shows premise which does allow for the show to put more of a focus on the bond between Trevor and Simon with that being something that doesn't allow for a good villain and yet at the same time by not giving us a good villain all this does is make the films central heroes look all the more weaker because of it when if Simon and Trevor had a stronger threat to overcome then they would both come across as being more stronger characters because of it.


For some odd reason the makers of this show don't go as far as they could when it comes to the original Wonder Man film. As while they do show us alot of the film which is said to be made sometime between the fifties and seventies they don't go all the way by not making the film look like it was made it whatever time it was meant to be made in as all of the effects in that film look really good and look like the type of effects that you'd find in films today with there not even being a break in the film either when both of those things are things that would have added some extra authenticity to the film and heck the original film doesn't even have the kind of bad acting that alot of those types films had back in the day but again to the shows credit they go as far into the remake culture as they perhaps could have done by having Simon fight for his Wonder Man glasses to be as close to the ones that were worn in the original film and while they don't go as far into how bad making a franchise film ca be like The Franchise did they do go quite far into what making a movie is like by having Simon's character arc being not to overthink things and ask to many questions about his characters ad instead just be in the moment something which Trevor does help him with but at the same time tho it would have been if the show did spend more time in giving us both the positive and negative aspects of being in a remake be it from the studio wanting to do something different with the character and the fans wanting things to stay the same as this is something that is relevant to today's film industry and will remain relevant for as long as people are willing to remake things but for one reason or another the makers of this show don't do any of that.

Now then this show has / had an exact grand total running time of no longer then thirty four minuets and five seconds. With each episode being around about thirty minuets in length which to be fair to this show is a solid running time for this show to have with the show having more then enough plot there to really cover that amount of running time and yet whilst the show is eight episodes long that does feel more like it's holding the show back as there are times where the show doesn't focus on it's plot alot of the time when it really didn't have the episode count to do that where as if this show was a few more episodes longer then they would have had the episodes there to take a break from it's plot with this also allowing the show to take the time to fully develop it's plot alot more then what it really has the chance to do so as right now the show has to rush along its plot when taking it's time and making things more fully developed would help the show out quite alot with this having the add on effect of making the films character development work as well as the show doesn't really take the time to give alot of the characters any kind of character development as the only two characters that get development in this show are Trevor and Simon and even then Trevor doesn't really need it to the fact that's appeared in a few of the MCU films where as it would have been more interesting to see more of the shows characters get some character development something which they would have been able to get if this shows was even just two episodes longer but I really will admit that this show really does have some really good pacing to it tho.


So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show was in all honesty not that bad. With the makers of this show really knowing that they can get some good comedy out of it's two leading characters as they get alot of jokes in the episode which granted doesn't always work but when it does work that's when you get to see just how funny that this show really can be with the best joke in the whole episode being in episode "Found Footage" when Trevor gets harassed by some gang members due to what something he did in his past and Simon uses his powers to stop them only for them to get caught on camera something they both at first hopefully believe that the person filming them didn't see them doing it only for it to very slowly dawn on the pair of them that yeah he did see them with the episode the spending a good few minuets just on Trevor and Simon trying to chase down this one person who is on park whilst they are stuck in LA traffic which was a nice little touch as it is something that would make sense given just how bad the traffic in LA is meant to be in the first place and therefor having these two people trying to chase down this one person in this town is something that will always be comedic gold with the show having quite alot of other good jokes in it as well all of which work because of the fact that they feel like there very character driven jokes in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

SPOILERS END HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!


Overall its hard to call this show bad as the idea behind the show is one that is really good but at the same time tho it's hard to call it a good show either as the show doesn't really commit to any of it's ideas and instead chooses to play things safe when this is a show that should have been much more braver and much more thought out in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very show in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very show really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 6 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very show that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very show with alot of them being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

Monday, 26 January 2026

Cosmic Princess Kaguya Film Review


Anime films are things that when there done well they can be really good and yet when there done badly they can be bland and forgettable. With the film that i'm going to be reviewing for you all today being somewhere in the middle as while it is a good film it doesn't take all of the risks that films like Akira and Ghost In The Shell took with the film being a very middle in the road type of film and so then join me as I review the film that tackles the world of streaming with the film in question being called simply just "Cosmic Princess Kaguya" enjoy.

The plot of this film when an overworked teenager finds herself looking after an alien being that wants to be a streamer she has to quickly grow up. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad with the plot of this film being one that can at times be fun but at the same time it also doesn't take enough risks with it's plot with it being very predictable as you can tell where this film is going right from the moment that it starts which is something that does make this films plot feel pointless but at the same time tho this films plot is one that can be seen as being really fun yet it's also not the kind of plot that you'd expect to see in a film rather it's the kind of plot that would work alot more better as the plot of a TV show as the films plot is very thin at best yet it is something that would work a whole more better as the plot of a TV show as then the plot doesn't have to be focused on all that much due to the episodic nature of a TV show and yet here whilst the plot does retain it's episodic nature it's really nothing that works all that well for a film as in a film you expect the plot to get alot more focus then what it really gets in this film with it really feeling like that this films plot is playing an afterthought to it's songs as it really feels like that the makers of the film wrote the songs first and put more effort into them then they did the films plot with the plot of the film not really being really rather entertaining and nor is it really rather engaging either in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.


Starring in this film is Dawn M. Bennett as Iroha Sakayori , Jeannie Tirado as Kaguya and Ryan Bartley as Yachiyo Runami. Also starring in this film is A.J. Beckles as Rai Komazawa , Anairis Quiñones as Mami Isayama and Otako The Loyal Dog , Casey Mongillo as Noi Komazawa , Cassandra Morris as Fushi , Inudoge and Roka Ayatsumugi , Kieran Regan as Koto Okotteru and Max Mittelman as Akira Mikado.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty alot more better then what it really had any to be. With this films acting being alot more better then what it really should have been as nobody expects good acting in a Netflix anime film and yet that's exactly what we got in this film with it being made clear as day that the makers of this film really did cast the best possible actors for this film and yet at the same time thus films acting oddly feels like it's not as good as it perhaps could have been either as while this films actors aren't phoning in their performance by any means the actors oddly don't feel right for the parts with them all giving there characters the types of voices that you typically see in Netflix dubs which in this case does do alot more harm then good as it just reminds you that your watching a Netflix anime dub and really nothing more then that with the best actor in this film being Dawn M. Bennett as she has to get across the fact tat she's playing a confused character who is somehow emotionless all through her voice and that is something that she does do really well with her performance being a true highlight for the film with the acting that's in this film not really being helped by the fact that the films script is just so bad as it gives none of this films actors absolutely nothing to work with interms of what it is that there actual characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does hurt the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.


Doing the animation for this film is the legends and the really greats that are currently over at Studio Chromato and Studio Colorido. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good with the films animation being really nice to look at which is something that does make alot of sense as alot of anime films do have really nice looking animation to them with the film having the kind of detail that is known in anime as it does look like that you can read all of the signs that we see in the film and yet when the film goes into this virtual world with the characters the animation and the character designs do look a little bit flat when compared to there real world counterparts as there's no imagination in those designs when given that this film does take place in the virtual world which is something that does allow for the film to go wild with it's character designs and yet they play it safe by giving us designs that they know a few people will love and while the films characters do have these really fluid movements to them the characters do look a little bit stilted when it comes to the films musical numbers which is where the films animation does start to look a little bit cheap but at the same time tho you can see that there is a lot of love and effort put into this films animation as you can see all of the sweat and tears from the films animators in each and every frame of the film.


The film does give alot of thought to the world of streaming however it oddly plays it as something that pretty much guarantees fame and makes it look easy when it is anything but. As while the film does highlight alot of the work that goes into creating just one stream what the film doesn't tell you is that if you want to get somewhat well known or even get a regular audience then you have to be streaking for several hours for alot of days of the week and then maybe just maybe if you carry on doing that then you might be able to make it big but you also have to sacrifice alot of time with your friends and family just to make your dreams come true and yet this film really doesn't highlight any of that and to be fair it really doesn't need to as alot of the people who would be watching this film in the first place would know all of that in the first place and given that this is a fantasy film it is also believable that a newby streamer would be able to reach a level of success after barely being a streamer for a long time when it would have been more realistic to show her struggle and to show her question what type of content that she wants to stream in the first place as Kaguya gets all of her fame and success pretty much right after her first stream and while that is something that wouldn't happen in real life it is something that does work for the type of film that this is as it's clear that this film is one that's not bound by what would happen in real life as that would then call into question why the characters are singing songs every five minuets but it is something that should gave been mentioned even if it's just as joke made by one of the characters just to highlight how hard it is to make it as a streamer.

One of the key ideas behind this film is the relationship that people might have with their mother be that in a positive or in a negative way. As at the the start of the film it's revealed that Iroha and her mother are estranged due to the fact that her mother would control every single aspect of her life and yet over the course of the film she finds herself both saying and and acting like her mother when she was living with her and yet she still somehow manages to be a really good mother figure to Kaguya in her own right as while she is hard on her be it for spending to much money or for not cleaning up after herself she also goes to great lengths into helping her achieve her dream of becoming a streaming star even it means putting her own dreams of going to a prestigious university on hold with it being obvious that Kaguya really does look up to Iroha as her mother which was something that does make sense as it then allowed for Iroha to show of her more softer and caring side and also to help to show Iroha herself what it means to be a mother and while she might not forgive her mother for how she acted when she was living with her it does give a new understanding on how hard it can be to be a mother with the only thing that lets this down being the fact that the we don't get a scene with Iroha and her mother as then we could see Iroha make it up to her mother as she would have been able to see her in a different light but for one reason or another the makers of this film instead chose to include a scene like that when it would have made alot of sense to include that scene given te fact that one of the key themes of the film is all about motherhood.


This film is a musical with the songs being songs produced by six Vocaloid producers with there not being any list of who wrote what song in the film. With this film feeling like an advertisement for the films soundtrack as they stop the film to have a song every five to ten minuets which is a bit much for a musical as it leaves no time for us the audience to catch out breathes and heck you could even say that the film has music videos in it due to the fact that the film does take alot of breaks just for the songs when there could have been a much more organic way of including the songs in this film with the fact that it has quite alot of sings in it being something that could be seen as being annoying as they don't advance the story or the characters as there just there for the sake of their being a song number there and while the film does try to include some of them in organic ways by having the character of Kaguya putting on a concert in the virtual world where it would make sense for them to have a song the film would nine times out of ten just start a random montage and have a song play over it even tho they've just had a musical number and while fair enough they might have had a soundtrack to sell but that doesn't mean that they have to stop the film in order to tell a song just look at any Disney animated film from the nineties as good examples of how to integrate the songs into the film have them advance the plot and characters of the film as films like The Lion King or Aladdin for example would feel incomplete without there songs and yet here in this film you can cut out alot of the montage sequences and not miss anything that's important to the films plot with none of this films songs being that good as there all just the same type of song where someone sings about being happy which is fine for one song but when there all about that it does start to get a bit boring after a while.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly two hours and twenty two minuets and three seconds. With this film being alot more longer then what it really should have been as by all rights this film should have been around one hour and thirty minuets and not over two hours long with the film not even having the right amount of plot there to cover that amount of running time as the film only has about as much plot to cover one hour and thirty minuets and that's it heck the film even lasts longer then what it should it have been as when you think that the film is wrapping up it then carries on again for another fifteen minuets with this not being helped by the fact that this film doesn't even use it's running time all that wisely as the film film doesn't even take the time to fully develop it's plot as the film spends alot more time in giving us song after song which takes up screen time that could have been better spent in fully developing it's plot as the plot does feel more like an afterthought to the films songs where as if this was a TV show then the plot would get more of a chance to be more fully developed then what it is in this film and heck the film doesn't take the time to fully develop it's characters as all of the films characters come across as being very dull and boring characters with even main characters like Iroha and Kaguya not getting the character development that they should have gotten and while this might be fine for a TV show as then you could always argue that the characters would get there character development in other episodes given that this is a film then there should have been more of focus o plot and character development and less of a focus on giving us alot of songs but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.


So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought  felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. With the film telling some decent jokes with Kaguya alot of the time nearly all of which re funny but it's the fact that the film the uses the kind of zany animation that you'd expect to find in Looney Tunes film that oddly holds the comedy back as while yes granted there are times where the animation does enhance the comedy there are also alot of time where the animation feels like it's holding it back and stopping rom being as funny as it could have been in the first place with the best joke in the film being when Kaguya first starts spending time with Iroha and her friends as all Kaguya does is eat pancakes which she says are better then the ones that Iroha makes which is something that does cause Iroha to grab Kaguya and run out of the cafe which was a nice a little joke and given that Kaguya is quite literally from a different planet it does make sense that she would find earth foods all the more tasty to eat and with Iroha it makes sense that she run it out in what can only be described in a way that's Sonic meets Looney Tunes as she is a pretty stuck up character who does have a good heart but really can't afford all that much with Kaguya getting alot of the films best jokes as she does come across as being a really hyperactive character who can make anything in this film be really funny in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.


Overall this is a hard to film as while it's clearly not that good of a film it's also not that bad either as there is alot of love and passion put into this film but if the makers of this film were willing to take alot more risks with the film instead of playing it safe then the film might have ended up being alot more better then what it actually is in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very film in this very review and a such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls ad as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

Sunday, 25 January 2026

Thomas And Friends TV Series "Wrong Road" Review


Thomas The Tank Engine And Friends is a show that had been going on since the early eighties with there being twenty four series of the show. With there being alot of episodes that could be described as being very much not all that much happens episodes with the episode that i'm going to be talking to you all about today being one such an episode and so then join me as I review the episode that pretty much spells out it's entire plot in it's episode title with the episode in question being called simply just "Wrong Road" enjoy.

The plot of this episode is when smaller engine Edward and big engine Gordon accidentally switch lines one night Gordon finds himself at the docks with some mischievous twins. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad with the episodes plot being given away right in the episodes title and yet it is still a fun plot to see play out as while yes nothing all that much happens in this episode plot wise it really didn't need to have all that much happen in it in the first place as all you needed was the basic set up and some little explanation as to how they ended up on each others tracks in the first place and that's really it to be fair that that's exactly what this episodes plot does give you altho to be this plot does feel like that it's the first of a two part or even three part story and after watching the following episodes as well it really isn't as the plot of this episode doesn't affect the plot of the next two episodes either with this episodes plot being a standalone episode which is fine but it makes you wonder why they chose to end the episode how they did in the first place as that makes it feel like it's a set up for the next few episodes and yet with all that being said this episodes plot is still quite enjoyable to watch due to how simple it is as that allows the characters to be there usual charming selves with the plot of this episode being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.


Starring in this episode is of course Sir Ringo Starr with him being just as delightful and full of live in this episode as he is in the rest of this shows second series. With him not really taking the same approach that he takes in he first series where it's like he's reading us a book where as here it instead feels like that he's putting on a performance as he makes all of the episodes characters be very full life and that is something that does work really well for him and while he doesn't change his accent in this episode that again is something that does work as the voices his uses for both Gordon and Edward are the end one that he used for hem in the first series with them coming across as being his natural speaking voice with the only difference being that he does make Gordon sound a bit pompous at times which is fine for his character with Ringo having the perfect voice for this type of show as this is meant to be a very calming show and therefor having this silky smooth voice is something that does work as it makes you feel more relaxed and it makes you feel more at ease with the show as well whereas if you had somebody who is a more well known established actor but has a more rough and gruff voice come in to do the show it just wouldn't work as while yes you would get a much more better performance out of the actor but you really would also lose the shows more relaxing tone in the process which doesn't really seem worth it for a show about talking trains with Ringo really being as good of a fit for the show at this time but in saying this tho it would have been nice to him do the narration for alot of the shows really more dangerous episodes just to see how well his voice mixes with the tone of one of those episodes.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. As while the show did have basically just the one actor for alot of it's run the person telling us the story still has to put in a performance and can't just read the story like you would a book and nothing more then that with this being something that alot of the Thomas narrators be they for the UK or the American dun fully understood as all of the narrators for the show do give us a performance with Ringo in this episode being by default the episodes best actor as while he doesn't give the characters unique voices he really does have to do as you can still tell by how he delivers certain lines when he's talking as Gordon or as Edward like for example when he's playing Gordon the lines are delivered matter of factly and when he's voicing Edward he delivers the lines in a more playful manner and while yes it would have been nice if he did give Edward a more older sounding voice as he is meant to be one of the older engines on Sodor it's also something that's really needed all that much either with the acting that's in this very episode really being helped by the fact that the script for this episode is just so good that all this episodes actor has to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out naturally which is something that really foes help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this episode.


Character wise the episode does fair about as well as it was ever going to with the fact that the episode only has a handful of characters with only two of them being main characters. As while Gordon and Edward are the main focus of the story it's really Gordon who is the lead character and the character that the episode follows the most which is something that does work well enough for this episode as we do see Gordon's more pompous side come out in this episode which is really fun to see but the episode it does feel underbaked as they straight up forget about Edward as when we see him leave the station that's the last time he appears in the episode when it would have made the episode more fun to watch as well but given that his characters is always looking in the bright side of things maybe it does make sense that they not focus that much on him in this episode as you wouldn't be able to get anything funny out of him with both of the episodes main characters being written as well as could be expected as even tho the episode doesn't really reveal anything new about them as characters as a duo Edward and Gordon are pretty fun characters to watch with them both being written in character and feeling like themselves and seeing Gordon interacting with Bill and Ben near the end of episode does make up for the fact that we don't get to see him and Edward together for very long with Bill and Ben being there typical cheeky selves and heck the only character who doesn't really get that much to do in the episode is Boco and even then it's more due to the fact that he only appears in the episode in the final few minuets where as given that Boco is more of a father figure to Bill and Ben it would have been interesting to see him interacting more with Gordon in this episode.


As is the case with alot of the episodes in these very early episodes of the show the scenery here in this episode just looks really good. As while yes granted the second season had a lot less detail in the shows backgrounds then they did in the first season we still do get alot of really good looking scenery in this episode with us getting a decent look at a small section from Edward's branch line with the hills in the background adding in some implied distance which was nice to see and while we sadly don't get to see alot of Edward's branch line in the day time in this episode as alot of the episode does take place at night it is still nice that the show did this nice little piece of worldbuilding by showing us a part of the island that we never got to see in the first season of the show with the only thing that could have made the scenery in this episode be all the more better was if they did what they did in the first season of the show and have those little extra details in the background that you wouldn't really notice like how cool would have been to have seen someone in a fishing boat underneath the bridge or to see a few people mountain climbing yes these are small things but they also help to make this part of the island feel more populated as just from the brief shots of it that we see in this episode Edwards branch line looks like there's no people there when we know for a fact due to it appearing in other episodes that that's just simply not the case contrast this with when we see Thomas's branch line in the first series we nearly always see a lot of people there doing things all of which really makes that part of the island really feel more populated and yet here in this episode with Edward's branch line it really feels alot more empty when showing people doing things would help it feel more populated then what it already is in the first place.

Whilst the show has always had plenty of atmosphere in it's more spooky episodes here in this episode it also creates alot of really good atmosphere at the main station. With there being plenty of fog and the fact that we have alot of human characters not just The Fat Controller and or two others there as well as the fact that the lights from it's ceiling are hanging quite low down all of which do combine to make for a really atmospheric looking set that could be used as the set from noir type of film or episode as that's the impression that it gives of and to be fair it is something that does work quite well for the episode as we don't get to spend alot of time at the station in this episode when compared to other episodes therefor we the audience don't really have the time to let it all sink in before the episode is moving again with the episode even making great use of the new big thin for this season which was a moving camera something which we never really got in the previous season and yet here it's used in a really effecting way by moving behind Gordon's passengers at the station which is something that does make it look like there are alot of people there which is something that does make sense given just what type of train that Gordon is getting ready to pull with the smokey atmosphere really making the scene look like something you would see in a Hollywood film and not like something that you'd expect to see in a kids TV series and yet when the episode does get back to it's plot by showing Edward now travelling along the main line it kids of looses that atmospheric look as while we do have the moon out in full display which is always good for some atmosphere it also makes the episode appear to be a bit more cheaper as well.


Look to be frank there was no need for Boco to appear in this episode as he doesn't add anything to the plot. With his only purpose in the entire episode being to stop Bill and Ben teasing Gordon and that's it which was something that really wasn't needed as they would have stopped teasing him anyway due to the fact that there drivers would have told them to stop doing but because of the fact that the plot needs Gordon to meet a diesel engine it does mean that Boco has to appear in the episode and while it was nice to see him it is something that makes you wonder why the show didn't do more with him as a character as while he essentially filles the same role that Mavis would later fill in the CGI era of the show in that he's essentially just a parental figure to Bill and Ben the show never really gave him much of a personality like it would have been interesting to see him interacting with characters like Thomas or James for example or even have him interacting with Daisy would have been fun as then we could get to see if he listens to her and becomes more lazy as a result of that thus showing that he is easily persuaded or we could have him show of how brave his by stopping a runaway train of trucks in someway just anything would have been nice and yet this episode doesn't take the change to do any of that it and instead has him be more a father figure to the twins which is fine enough as that's what he needed to be for this episode but there's no reason why Edward couldn't have filled that role or why Toby couldn't have played that role in this episode as they both older engines and both of whom have worked with trucks before so it would make sense and interms of Edward it would have been a fun little way to get him back into the episodes story as well.

Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly five minuets and thirty one seconds. Which is pretty much the exact grand total running time for this show at this point in time with this episode really having more then plot there to really cover that amount of running time in the first place yet even so this episode doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as the episode really doesn't fully develop it's plot as well as it perhaps could have done which granted might be more due to the fact that it does have a short running time but the episode could have taken then time to show us things like why Gordon hates diesels pulling main line trains as we already know why he want pull trucks in the first place but given the fact that he meets a diesel that he likes at the end of the episode we still could have found out why he doesn't like diesels pulling main line trains however the episode really doesn't have that much character development either as Gordon never really gets over his hatred of diesels pulling main line trains as the episode doesn't really give him a scene where he realizes that he was wrong for his hatred and grow as a character granted there is a chance that his character development does come in other episodes of the show but interms of this episode he gets nothing which would be fine if Edward got any development as a character but the episode just straight up drops him as a character and yet with the added screen time they don't really give Gordon any kind of character development whatsoever but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.


So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally tought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With this episode having some really funny jokes in it all of which whilst yes they are cute jokes become funny because of the fact that they are character driven jokes and therefor it is easy to picture this episodes characters acting the way that do in this episode as that is something that helps to make the jokes be alot more funnier then what they really should have been with the episodes best joke being when Gordon wakes up at the harbor the next day and starts getting teased by Bill and Ben as they call him scrap that should get tossed in the water as they refuse to believe that it's actually him due to the fact that he said branch lines are ugly which is a nice little joke as it is something that they would say just to wind up other engines with the fact that Gordon does genuinely think that Boco saved his life being something that makes the joke all the more funnier as while he is the strongest engine on Sodor he's also not the brightest engine there is as well with him believing that Boco has saved him being something that does feel true to his character with the episode having alot of really good jokes in it all of which work because of how charming that the characters are with that charm being something that makes what could have been really dull jokes somehow not only work but become all the more funnier as they do feel very true to the characters in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. 


Overall whilst not alot really happens in this episode this is a still a fairly solid episode that does show you just how charming that this show about talking trains can be and while the episode isn't a must watch it is still a fun episode that both kids and adults will find some level of enjoyment out of in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in his very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a gran old score of exactly a 6.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co . Uk and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.