The “Paddington” film series that began back in 2014 is truly one of the most heartfelt and wholesome series of family movies ever created. I remember skipping out on the first movie when it was coming out in theaters, I didn’t necessarily think it would be bad but I didn’t care enough to go out and watch it. Fast-forward to the first couple weeks of 2018 where every single movie fan I knew could not stop gushing about “Paddington 2.”
And when I say gushing, they were GUSHING over this movie. People were saying it was their favorite of the year (either 2017 or 2018, depending on when they saw it) and I kept seeing links to articles about how it’s one of the best-reviewed movies on Rotten Tomatoes. Naturally, I had to see what all the fuss was about, on my last day before Winter Break was over I saw “Paddington 2” with my family and I can’t express how much of a delight it ended up being.
WARNING: PREPARE FOR THE USE OF MANY POLITE AND BRITISH ADJECTIVES IN THIS REVIEW. “PADDINGTON” JUST RUBBED OFF ON ME
I had heard that it wasn’t super necessary to watch the first “Paddington” prior to “Paddington 2” so I wasn’t worried too much about continuity or whatever. “Paddington 2” did a great job at introducing audiences to the character of Paddington and establish his life in London. A bear walking around London with clothes is a fantasy and the movie is able to pull you into their whimsical world so easily.
I believe it’s all in the character of Paddington. Paddington is so loveable and innocent, he tries to find the good in everyone and whenever he talks you just end up smiling. To steal this description from another famous bear, Paddington is just a “silly old bear.” I didn’t know Paddington was a huge icon already from children’s books he’s been in, but I think these movies will get the whole globe on the “Paddington” team, he’s that charming and fun to watch.
The animation is incredibly well-done, my favorite sequence in the entire movie was very early on when Paddington is imagining what it would be like to take his Aunt Lucy on a tour of London. This is all shown by Paddington looking through an antique pop-up book in an old store near his home, Paddington and Aunt Lucy walk around the pages of the pop-up book and the transitions from page to page look so great, combine all that with the music and emotion shared between the two characters and you have a legitimate A+, 10/10 movie scene.
The stories in these movies are told extremely well, I went back and saw the first “Paddington” the day afterward and it was just as good in my opinion. If I had to choose I’d probably say the newest one, “Paddington 2” has a better story and more emotional beats that elevate it over the first one. I just wish I had seen the first movie back in 2014, I feel like that would’ve added an electrifying amount of happiness and British charm to my life much earlier. This movie follows Paddington through the British legal system, bet you weren’t expecting that sentence to pop up.
The plot is fairly simple, Paddington gets framed by a washed-up actor for stealing the antique pop-up book and is sentenced to do time in prison. I could not believe how fun and (here’s that word again) delightful all the prison sequences were. From Paddington (in a laundry mishap) accidentally turning all the prisoner’s clothes pink, to sharing a Marmalade Sandwich recipe with the head chef, it’s all so great and I appreciated the camera shots used much later in the movie to showcase certain characters moving about certain areas of the prison. It becomes a bit of a prison-escape movie near the end and some things become improbable, but as long as you remember it’s just a cute, fantasy children’s movie then the physics and logistics of “Paddington 2” shouldn’t worry you too much.
Paddington’s family consists of a great bunch of characters and I really do wish I saw the first movie first because it would’ve made me appreciate the actions of the members of the family in the second movie even more. “Paddington 2” still did a great job at introducing newcomers to the dynamics of the family but the characters are built up so well over the course of the two movies that the experience is elevated for those who watched the first one first. The mother is played by Sally Hawkins who is being nominated left and right for her performance as Elisa in Guillermo Del Toro’s “The Shape of Water.”
The villain, Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant) is incredibly fun to watch. He’s a washed-up actor who sulks in his attic surrounded by costumes of his past roles. In an attempt to solve some convoluted puzzle across England he inadvertently gets the loveable Paddington thrown in jail. At the beginning of the movie his intentions are selfish and he’s just looking out for himself, near the end he makes a bit of a turn and gets fairly violent with Paddington and his family, it’s a bit of a jarring change of character...especially when they end the entire movie with a humorous dance number involving him ruling the prison.
He was a bit all over the place but the performance was hilarious. I was reminded a lot of Ed Helm’s character from The Office, Andy. Mostly because of his devotion to acting and sticking with it despite the fact that he may not be all too good at it. I think the Nicole Kidman villain was much stronger in the first movie, I actually think it'd be interesting to put Nicole Kidman's character in the plot of "Paddington 2." Her motivation and actions in the first movie were okay, but in a more dynamic "treasure hunt" plot like this second movie has I think she could've added a lot more.
If you haven’t watched any of the “Paddington” movies then I don’t understand why you’re still here. I was a naysayer of Paddington, I’ll admit. I didn’t watch the first movie, I didn’t even give it a chance. After watching “Paddington 2” I feel so much shame for initially doing that. I hope these movies do incredibly well and reach the hearts of families everywhere. They are pure, funny, emotional and just extremely wholesome. I haven’t seen a children’s film in a while that treats children like an ordinary member of the audience without talking down to them. It seems like many kids movies today go for the easy fart or butt joke and don’t like to craft characters and situations for the movie to take you on, the Paddington series completely exceeded my expectations and I hope you go out to watch one of the two soon.
