Paddington in Peru

Michael Bond’s Paddington Bear has been a staple in households across the UK since his first appearance in A Bear Called Paddington in 1958. Younger audiences are perhaps most familiar with his major film appearances in Paddington and Paddington 2 in 2014 and 2017 respectively. Following a lengthy wait, the franchise now returns with Ben Whishaw’s Paddington and the Brown family whisked off to his homeland of Peru in search of his missing Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton).

There may have been some concerns with the director and writers of the first two instalments, Paul King and Simon Farnaby, not returning (although they receive a story credit), the pair working instead on Wonka. King’s directorial flourishes and Farnaby’s sharp script are what helped make the first two films so memorable. Dougal Wilson, behind several well-known music videos and adverts, makes his directorial debut here with the intimidating task of carrying on such a beloved franchise.

Paddington in Peru lacks some of the originality and charm of its predecessors. While the first two movies flowed naturally, there are points where this feature can drag. Its story takes Paddington and co deep into the Peruvian jungle and riffs on the likes of Indiana Jones, even including a boulder sequence. There are jokes for adults with nods to the films of Werner Herzog. The fish out of water story does add a fresh angle to the series, with Paddington caught between his roots and his newly found family, having been granted a British passport.

Taking the cast out of Windsor Gardens and the London explored in the previous films for so much of the duration robs us of some of the stellar ensemble, with Jim Broadbent’s Mr Gruber in particular relegated to more of a short cameo. Emily Mortimer replaces Sally Hawkins as Mrs Brown, and while she brings some of her own quirks to the role, it is a tall order to replace Hawkins who brought an effortless energy and a sense of warmth.

The cast makes up for some of the shortcomings in its script and story with Olivia Colman’s Reverend Mother, a guitar-playing nun having a blast. Antonio Banderas’s Hunter Cabot, a boat owner whose family is cursed, brings some comedy and fun, although skirts ideas explored with the franchise’s previous villain Phoenix Buchanan, so memorably played by Hugh Grant.

An increase in action counterintuitively reduces some of the natural humour and energy usually found in abundance, and although the movie is not entirely devoid of laughs, surprisingly the gag rate does feel considerably lower.

There is still plenty to enjoy in Paddington in Peru. However, it does seem like some of the magic of the first two chapters has eroded in the seven years since we last saw the Browns. This is a smaller, more intimate affair without the wider cast that the first two films built. Paddington himself continues to be perfectly voiced by Whishaw – but there is a sense of spark missing that stops it from reaching the heights of previous entries.

Christopher Connor

Paddington in Peru is released in select cinemas on 8^th November 2024.

Watch the trailer for Paddington in Peru here: