I have a very long history with Paddington Bear. The stop motion animated series from the late 1970s are some of my earliest memories of television I have. The little bear from Peru who lives with the lovely Brown family in London has endeared itself to many over the decades. I very much enjoyed the first film from 2014, as it felt like a perfect family film. I have never seen the sequel, and I hear it’s even better than the first. It’s considered one of the best films of this current era, but I wasn’t able to get to the screening back then, and a lot of the time, if I don’t see it at a screening, I just end up never seeing it. There are just too many films, folks.
Now we finally have the third entry, Paddington in Peru, by director Dougal Wilson, with the main cast returning. This is Wilson’s feature debut, and I must say he did a fantastic job, and it’s consistently good with the first film. Here, Paddington must return to Peru to visit and then learn to find his Aunt Lucy (voiced by Imelda Staunton), who’s now lost in the Amazon jungle. Through this adventure, Paddington learns more about himself and his origins while the Browns learn to come together closer as the two children are older and preparing to leave the nest.
I thought the film captured the children’s book nature of Paddington while still feeling like a complete world. Ben Whishaw is still wonderfully pleasant at Paddington. His vocal performance keeps that delightful naivete that Paddington should have as he experiences the world in these adventures. Paddington’s arc of his search for Aunt Lucy, leading to his finding out so much about himself, balances out so well with Mary’s (Emily Mortimer) fear of her family growing so far apart because of the kids’ growth. Mortimer’s performance holds the human parts together the most as she’s the other character who has to interact with so many of the characters they meet. Her fear of losing Paddington as this symbol of the family finally drifting apart during the last act helps bring the heart of the story together for me as well.
Hugh Bonneville as Henry Brown has a slight arc, but it’s fun for some great jokes as he needs to take more risks in life. This is started by his new boss, Madison, at his job, played by Hayley Atwell, leading his time in Peru, facing all types of fears he’s had his whole life to some real solid physical humor jokes.
Antonio Banderas plays Hunter Cabot, a riverboat captain who helps the Browns on their journey. Still, his conflict is that his family has searched for generations for the Lost City of Gold, and he now thinks Paddington is the final piece to help him achieve what no other person in his family has ever done. Here, he’s terrorized by ghosts of his ancestors in his mind being the devil on his shoulder. While this costs him so much time with his daughter Gina (Carla Tous), his greed gets the better of him and makes him the closest we can get to an antagonist in this sweet movie as we can get. Banderas gives a fun performance as this man is overtaken by his greed but is guilty of not being the best father he could’ve been because of it.
The other prominent actor as a new character is the fantastic Olivia Colman as The Reverend Mother who runs the Home for Retired Bears in Peru and contacts Paddington about his Aunt, inciting the whole adventure to this story. Here, she’s sometimes very tongue-in-cheek in this role, referencing The Sound of Music at one key early part. She’s the most like a cartoon character in this movie. Julie Walters‘ Mrs. Bird ends up having some of the best parts with her character in this surreal retirement home for bears.
The film also looks good, as the CG characters never feel out of place in the real-world settings. The colors are relatively bright and pop well on the screen. So far, only Dog Man has had better cinematic color in my eyes this year. While I can’t compare it to the second film, which is so beloved, I do think this film is very good and something that can be rewatched more than once. Paddington in Peru should do well with family audiences, and it is something that families should check out when they head to the theaters.
Score: B
