A One Mann’s Movies review of “The Railway Children Return” (2022).
“The Railway Children Return” (note: interestingly, a movie with no opening title) is a sequel, 52 years later, to the much-loved 1970 classic “The Railway Children”. (That doesn’t quite match the sequel gap of “Mary Poppins” and “Mary Poppins Returns“… but it comes pretty close!)
I sometimes wonder whether it is better to give a movie a ‘gut reaction’ rating as soon as you come out of the darkness, or to wait and give a more considered opinion. I tend to favour the latter. “The Railway Children Return” is an example where I came out thinking it was “fine” (3 or even 3.5 stars). But, on reflection, I think could have been so much better.
Bob the Movie Man Rating(s):
Plot Summary:
It’s the summer of 1944. Three kids from Salford – Lily (Beau Gadsdon), Ted (Zac Cudby) and Pattie (Eden Hamilton) – are packed off to the Yorkshire countryside for their safetly. (This was the time the Nazis were deploying V1 and V2 rocket attacks). They are housed with Bobbie Waterbury (Jenny Agutter) – now a grandmother – in the large family home in Oakworth. She lives there with her daughter Annie (Sheridan Smith) and Annie’s son Thomas (Austin Haynes).
The children, when playing, discover a US army private, Abe (KJ Aikens), hiding in a railway car. They decide to offer him assistance so that he can complete his “secret mission”. But all is not as it seems.
Certification:
Talent:
Starring: Jenny Agutter, Sheridan Smith, Tom Courtenay, Beau Gadsdon, John Bradley.
Directed by: Morgan Matthews.
Written by: Daniel Brocklehurst & Jemma Rodgers
Twitter Handles: #TheRailwayChildrenReturn.
“The Railway Children Return” Review:
Positives:
- If you are looking for a gentle, bucolic, harmless movie to while away 90 minutes, this will fit the bill nicely. You’d struggle to be massively offended by this film. That’s aside from perhaps some juvenile larceny and some casual racism (reflective of the times).
- Acting-wise, seeing Jenny Agutter re-enacting the role of her youth is a joy. There’s genuine emotion displayed in some of her scenes (some of which I don’t think is put on). Sheridan Smith is also great, reminding you that you really wish she would do more big-screen work.
- The kids all give solid performances, with Austin Haynes, as Thomas, being the standout for me. Beau Gadsdon – who played the young Jyn Urso at the start of “Rogue One” – is also very good, particularly in one very emotional scene. Curiously, the child acting is stronger in all of the dramatic ‘acting’ sequences: it is in some of the casual asides between the characters where the lack of experience tends to show. (As my experience as a Supporting Artist has demonstrated to me, being “natural” takes some training!)
Negatives:
- Inevitably, you end up comparing this with the movie that was its inspiration. And although it tries to pull on the same strings, it never quite got there for me.
- John Bradley’s ‘cuddly station manager’ is OK, but he still has you pining for Bernard Cribbens (now 93, and presumably putting his feet up – though I note from wiki that he is due to reprise his role in a 2023 Doctor Who episode celebrating the programme’s 60th anniversary).
- The somewhat curious plot involving Abe and the racial overtones of his ‘secret mission’ might need some explaining to the younger target audience. And wouldn’t the local Yorkshire populace of 1944 be almost as racist as the US military police are portrayed? It all seems a little too woke-whitewashed to me.
- The movie is also rather on the dull side. Aside from a falling bomb incident, the most exciting thing to get the pulse racing is a tractor ride down a field! Perhaps I should get “Paultons Park: The Movie” green-lit? (Did much actually happen in the original film? Perhaps not!)
- There is a hint – – just a hint – – of an ‘illicit’ inter-racial romantic frisson between Lily and Abe, which I think would have added a more interesting angle to the story. But this is never explored further.
- Tom Courtenay is given precious little to do. (In fact, all of the ‘grown-ups’ are pretty superfluous to the plot.)
Summary Thoughts on “The Railway Children Return”:
As a remake of a classic, this movie was always going to be dicing with disaster. It’s fine as a gentle, undemanding watch. But if it is aiming for a nostalgic older audience, it feels underpowered on both the nostalgia and the plot. And if it is aiming for the younger audience*, then its plot will likely confuse and its “action scenes” will leave them unstirred and restless. Times at the movies have, unfortunately, moved on in 50 years.
(* It comes as a shock to me that I was only 9 years old when the original film was released!)
Trailer for “The Railway Children Return”
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6IsUeWO2Yw .
