As you might expect from an attempt to re run a beloved classic there is a certain air of somewhat cynical box checking about The Railway Children Return but some charm does manage to sneak through.
This time round children are sent to the country to escape the blitz rather than just having to slum it with the yokels because daddy has legal problems. This set up allows Jenny Agutter to return as the grown up matriarch of a family taking in the new generation of railway kids. She seems to be enjoying herself but doesn't really have much to do. This is the same for most of the adult characters in the film, thinly drawn but likeable (apart from one insufferable old uncle who turns up purely to spout ra ra nonsense).
This makes sense as it is the railway "children" after all. Some of the child acting is, to be kind, a mixed bag but it never derails proceedings and there is only so much a young actor can do with insightful lines like, "I hate war, I hate it!"
The plot, such as it is, involves a runaway soldier and institutional racism. Fortunately, only the American military are racist (although they still promote black soldiers far up the ranks so i guess we are meant to think they aren't all bad) as the citizens of a quant English village would never indulge in such behaviour. To call the events of the movie a plot is actually a bit of stretch, things happen for a while and then just sort of resovle themselves without much explanation of how everynody came together.
The Railway Children Return isnt a complete waste of time but is likely to be quickly forgotten. Probably as soon as the credits roll.
5 trains arriving on time out of 10.
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