By Emily Hough
Paddington 2 and Paddington in Peru: like asking da Vinci to recreate the Mona Lisa with different paints.
This past Saturday, I sat down to join my, slightly hungover, housemates in our scheduled navigation on what Netflix has to offer. After a couple of rejected suggestions of horror films, dramas and cheap-looking Christmas films, we paused over Paddington 2.
“You know, I read somewhere that it’s the highest-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes,” my housemate shared. My other housemates responded in sheer excitement: “It is, quite literally, the best film I’ve ever seen.” This challenge alone had us sold. We pressed play and began watching, what I can confidently say, was one hour and forty-four minutes of complete and utter joy.
Now, I understand that this may sound dramatic, and for the purpose of making this article readable it is to some extent, but the internet is all in agreement of the filmmaking phenomenon that is Paddington 2.
In Peter Bradshaw’s The Guardian review, he called the film ‘a tremendously sweet-natured, charming, unassuming and above all funny film with a story that just rattles along, powered by a nonstop succession of Grade-A gags.’ In fact, the ‘Grade-A gags’ Bradshaw refers to here is what possibly makes screenwriters Paul King, Simon Farnaby and Jon Croker’s creation so brilliant. It was the simple sequence of window cleaning that had us five students in fits of laughter. It’s hard to imagine how a bucket of water and a pulley could create comedic genius, yet it is the simplicity but effectiveness of the slapstick humour in Paddington 2, that gives it such a feel-good feeling.
The Charlie Chaplin-esque humour alongside Hugh Grant’s convincing performance as a washed-up celebrity, had us ending the film with the disbelief but certainty that this was truly the best film any of us had ever watched. But what about these Paddington films makes them so addictive? How do they leave you with such a warm glow and a sunny perspective on life?
One of my housemates seemed to offer the answer, stating “I think whoever wrote these films must just be the happiest person alive.” I think her comment pretty much answers these questions for me. So, in the hopes of continuing this winning streak, within 20 minutes of the end credits rolling, we had booked to see Paddington in Peru (the newly released third Paddington film) that next evening in Durham’s finest Gala Theatre (£5.50 by the way, absolute steal).
With Paddington 2 achieving a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the film’s successor, Paddington in Peru, was a hot topic of conversation in the industry in the build-up to its release this month. Critics were waiting in anticipation to watch the newest instalment of Paddington’s adventures and see whether the trilogy could continue to get even better with every release. As it turns out, so were my four housemates and I as we waltzed into the Gala Theatre’s Cinema at 7.50 pm (a whole TEN minutes early for the adverts, we were that keen) with a bag stuffed full of an array of Tesco’s sweet treats.
The third and final, for now, Paddington film follows the bear and the Brown family’s adventure to Peru in search of his missing Aunt Lucy. The film opens strongly with a hilarious scene of Paddington taking his passport photo, involving his polite responses to the automated speaker message, which sees him taking instructions a bit too literally and ending up in a pile of newspapers in Paddington station. We can see again how the writers are so talented in adding vibrance and humour so easily to mundane experiences we can all relate to. It seems the essence of Paddington’s character is to add light and cheer to parts of life we never thought would need it, like taking a passport photo or doing laundry, although in his case for his fellow prisoners.
As we follow the Brown crew to Peru, we are introduced to Olivia Coleman’s delightfully creepy character of Reverend Mother, the woman in charge of the retirement home for bears that Aunt Lucy has mysteriously disappeared from. Her opening musical number perfectly exhibits the ridiculous nature of her character, with her humorously villainous smile giving away her not so inconspicuous identity.
Ben Whishaw, of course, returns as the voice of Paddington, once again proving he is the one and only man to breathe life into this comical, good-hearted protagonist of the franchise.
Paddington in Peru does face its challenges though, with a new ‘Mrs Brown’ as Emily Mortimer who takes over from Sally Hawkins in the role. There is also a new director as Dougal Wilson takes charge, succeeding Paul King who directed Paddington 2. The directorial changes are notable, with reviews that do not shy away from the fact that the humour of Paddington in Peru does not quite match that of its widely celebrated predecessor.
Peter Bradshaw returns some seven years later to review Paddington in Peru for The Guardian, in which he comments that ‘just as jolly as the previous two films, but not really as funny, Paddington in Peru is a sweet-natured and primary-colour family adventure which takes Paddington Bear back to his South American homeland.’ Bradshaw, amongst other critics, says what the audience is thinking: no, it is not funnier or even as funny as its previous film. However, that is not to say that it was not a perfectly enjoyable experience, costing not much more than a pint in The Swan, and I would recommend watching the film to children and adults alike.
There is lots to be learnt from Hugh Bonerville’s loveable portrayal of Mr Brown. In this third instalment we see him adopt the mindset of his new American boss, Mission Impossible’s new ‘it-girl’ Haley Atwell, and ‘embrace the risk’. Bonerville is a master of bringing quintessential English humour to any character he touches, and in Paddington in Peru he is no different. His ‘under the breath’ comments brought a chuckle from all in the cinema, and his fear of spiders is an aspect of his character I can greatly relate to, although his triumph over it, is not.
The film wraps up Paddington’s character arc in a neat and tidy bow. Whilst taking the story out of London causes it to lose some of the humorous interactions with British culture, it seems necessary to take Paddington beyond the space we typically see him in and discover where our titular character comes from.
The end of the film explores that all too important question of where do we belong? As Paddington grapples with the duality of who he is, the cinema air is tense with anticipation, broken with a sigh of relief as we see him once again choose London as his home. The writers make one thing clear: You can take the bear out of London, but you can’t take London out of the bear.
Walking out of the Gala Theatre into the crisp November night, we wondered as a house at what point did we stop watching these ‘kids’ films in the cinema and concluded there comes a time when we should all revert to these nostalgic stories. I would urge you to take an evening and to come and fill your boots with the happiness that these types of films offer. After all, these lessons on family, adventure, and discovering things about ourselves may be aimed at children, but I think we can all be reminded of them from time to time.