Please Look After This Bear, Thank You: The Paddington in Peru Review

The little bear from Darkest Peru has had quite a few journeys across his short lifespan: from finding refuge with the Brown family after arriving in England to being falsely accused of a crime he didn’t commit and going to prison for it. Now he’s traveling back to Peru and putting on his detective hat to find his missing Aunt Lucy—and he’s bringing his adopted family with him. 

Paddington in Peru itself has also had quite the journey making it to screens, coming along seven years after Paddington 2. The man behind Paddington and Paddington 2, Paul King, stepped down from directing this time around to work on Wonka—and he took the matriarch of the Brown family, Sally Hawkins, with him. Paddington 2 is considered a near-perfect object and with the original director leaving came some questions: is it even worth it to do a Paddington sequel without the person who brought the magic behind the camera? How could you even top the last one? Easy, don’t try to be Paul King and instead focus on the star of the show: Paddington Bear himself. 

In this latest Paddington installment, new director Dougal Wilson understands this very clearly and brings that same magic to the forefront while learning some lessons from the previous films. Honestly, good on him for taking this film on as his feature debut because the groundwork is so solid it can afford a few hiccups. The vaudevillian nature of the comedy from the first two movies is pretty much gone and the sight gags take a backseat, allowing the movie to breathe more and play out as a traditional family comedy. 

Paddington is on a mission to locate his Aunt Lucy after he receives notice that she’s gone missing from the Home for Retired Bears. He explores the jungles of Peru, meets a whole cast of new faces and tries to solve the mystery of what could have happened to his beloved aunt.  As always Ben Whishaw gives a soft and sensitive performance as Paddington. Caring and understanding and willing to put everyone else’s needs before his, the worry and concern in his voice shines as he tries to find his Aunt Lucy but continues to help people along the way. His cute and cuddly demeanor is what audiences crave and he gives it in spades. 

The Brown family also returns, but this time they’re older and focusing on problems in their own lives. The insurance agency owned by risk-averse Mr. Brown (Hugh Bonneville) has been bought out by an American firm emphasizing the need to find the reward in risk, and he decides that this would be the perfect opportunity to prove that he can be the man for the job despite the hangups he has. Mrs. Brown (Emily Mortimer) is upset that her family doesn’t spend as much time as they used to together and thinks helping Paddington and getting a family vacation out of it is a win-win situation. Emily Mortimer fills in the place of Sally Hawkins’ Ms. Brown, but in a way she almost doesn’t feel like the same character. Much of what made Ms. Brown’s character was her appearance, her kind eyes, and the way she physically reacted to Paddington. She made him feel like he was real instead of an animated facsimile of a bear, something this movie doesn’t really allow Mortimer to do. She’s able to be verbally supportive of him, but the touch points aren’t the same. The movie goes as far as to recreate a scene from the first movie when the Brown family found Paddington alone in Paddington Station, but instead of her being on camera, she provides a voiceover. Rather than leaning on Hawkins’ physicality, the movie has Mortimer’s version of Mrs. Brown telling jokes and embracing the humor of the fish-out-of-water story of the family in Peru.  

Something the Paddington movies have always done well is allowing the newcomers and villains to give huge performances, and this movie is no different. Antonio Banderas plays Hunter Cabot, a boat captain hailing from a lineage of explorers, whose only goal is to find El Dorado, the lost city of gold. On top of that, Banderas plays each and every one of his ancestors as they communicate with him through hallucinations reminding him to keep his eye on the prize and trying to convince him to use Paddington for his endgoal. Olivia Colman is the mysterious Reverend Mother who oversees the Home for Retired Bears and notifies Paddington that his aunt is missing. Colman and Banderas are no strangers to providing big performances, but it really feels like they let loose and had a great time making the movie. 

Paddington in Peru beats the odds stacked against it, understanding Paddington is the draw and whatever adventure he goes on audiences will join him. Truth be told, I was afraid of this movie. It was years after the last one came out, and it seemed as if the making of it was uncertain and rocky, but by the end, my eyes welled up with the same tears the previous movies got out of me. It was pleasant to see my friend again and know that he’s still the same charming little bear from Darkest Peru that I remembered so fondly. 

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