Written by Luke Barnes
Summary
The Railway Children return and it has never felt more American.
Straight off the bat I don’t mind the fact that this film decided to tackle the racism amongst American troops station in Yorkshire during WWII, however, I will say the way the film choose to use this plot feels incredibly forced in, because there will just be a section about something else and then bang they will bring it back out of nowhere.
This idea of racial identity is just one of the ways in which this film feels more American than quintessentially British like first film. Honestly, this film could be set anywhere, it could be set in rural America if you were willing to give up the backdrop such is its weak identity.
Further in that regard, the only real thing that links this film to the first film is the return of Jenny Agutter, if it was not for her this film could have been any number of other generic WWII movies. I think the older cast certainly did a lot of the heavy lifting here and for the most part they help to keep the film on track. To me John Bradley was the standout of the adult performers giving quite a sweet and well natured performance that makes you warm quickly to his character.
Overall, it is still watchable and above average, however, it is seemingly having an identity crisis.
Pros.
Agutter
Bradly
It is very watchable
Cons.
The racism plotline feels awkwardly forced in
It feels far too American
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Another Millennial Reviewer 