Winnie the Pooh is finally out of honey. According to the latest poll on this hairiest question, Britain’s favorite fictional bear is now the one with the marmalade sandwich under his hat – and Paddington in Peru can only cement his exalted new status.
While less entertaining than 2017’s sublime Paddington 2, this long-awaited third adventure certainly pushes the boat out – and even into the Amazon, where I suspect the hand of co-writer Mark Burton playfully referencing The African Queen, the Indiana Jones films, The Sound of Music and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Burton also wrote the upcoming (and fantastic) Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, which is also full of nods to classic films.
At 32 Windsor Gardens, Paddington (again beautifully voiced by Ben Whishaw) receives a letter telling him that his beloved Aunt Lucy, living in a home for retired bears in his native Peru, is ill and wants him to visit.
Legally he can. Despite a photobooth debacle (a nice rip-off of the 1987 Hamlet commercial, starring Gregor Fisher as the hapless ‘Baldy Man’), Paddington now has a prized British passport. So even though he prefers marmalade, the world is his oyster.
While less entertaining than 2017’s sublime Paddington 2, this long-awaited third adventure certainly pushes the boat out – and even into the Amazon.
At Windsor Gardens 32, Paddington (again beautifully voiced by Ben Whishaw) receives a letter telling him that his beloved Aunt Lucy, living in a home for retired bears in his native Peru, is ill and wants him to visit.
Mrs. Brown (Emily Mortimer ably replaces Sally Hawkins) suggests that the whole family come with him to South America. With daughter Judy (Madeleine Harris) about to leave for college and son Jonathan (Samuel Joslin), a dedicated gamer who rarely leaves his bedroom, she develops a debilitating form of empty nest syndrome.
A trip to Peru could be the perfect antidote, and Mr. Brown (Hugh Bonneville), encouraged by his new boss at the insurance company to take more risks, agrees. Of course, the clever old housekeeper Mrs. Bird (Julie Walters) comes along too.
Yet a shock awaits them all. The retired bear house is run by nuns, whose smiley Mother Superior (Olivia Colman) tells them that Aunt Lucy seems to have disappeared.
One of the seemingly immutable laws of cinema is that the more Colman lights up the screen with her toothy grin, the more likely she is to be a secret rotter. We last saw it in Wicked Little Letters (2023). But you won’t find any spoilers here!
The Browns and Paddington are told that Aunt Lucy has ventured into the Amazon rainforest in search of a mysterious place called El Dorado. Confused, our ursine hero initially imagines a fast-food restaurant of the same name in London.
But soon he’s on board, literally, when a riverboat captain named Hunter Cabot (Antonio Banderas in fine comic form) offers to take them upriver. The problem is that Cabot has an ulterior motive. He is haunted by the ghosts of his gold-obsessed ancestors, who have filled him with uncontrollable greed. Missing Aunt Lucy isn’t the reason he wants to find El Dorado.
Much of this will obviously fly over the heads of the young audience. But I watched the movie this weekend in a theater full of kids and they seemed captivated the entire time. I just saw Paddington getting in and out of trouble
is enough, without having to understand too much about the ancient Inca riches entrusted to the spirits of the jungle.
Yet a shock awaits them all. The retired bears’ home is run by nuns, whose smiley Mother Superior (Olivia Colman) tells them that Aunt Lucy seems to have disappeared
However, adults may feel (as I did) that some of the intrinsic charm and fun is lost by plucking Paddington away from London and his group of neighborhood friends.
But this film, like the first two, a slick mix of motion-capture, CGI and live action, contains many delights
However, adults (like me) may feel that some of the intrinsic charm and fun is lost when Paddington is plucked away from London and his group of neighborhood friends like Mr Gruber (Jim Broadbent), who have only a fleeting career. early appearance.
On the other hand, spending an hour and 43 minutes with Paddington in any setting is a pleasure, and this film, like the first two, features a slick mix of motion-capture, CGI and live action, many pleasures.
The director is Dougal Wilson, who is making his feature film debut. But he did direct some of those celebrated John Lewis Christmas ads, which may be why the producers entrusted him with another revered British institution: the lovable, hard-eyed Peruvian bear.
Paddington in Peru opens on Friday.