Paddington In Peru is still sweet as marmalade, but twice as messy
The third film overloads the sandwich with hijinks and lore, but the bear’s charms are as tasty as ever.
Photo: Sony
The first two Paddington films were perfect marmalade sandwiches: Simple in design and rich in flavor. Testing Paddington’s penchant for politeness, director Paul King’s movies spread goodwill to society’s most villainized, revealing unexpected depth with each bite and opening hearts to subjects that The Smurfs wouldn’t smurf with a 10-foot pole. Paddington enchanted audiences with his manners; his films’ Rube Goldberg slapstick could crack a smile on Buster Keaton’s stone face. But King has handed off the franchise, and taken some of its magic with him. More of an awkward step down than a pratfall from grace, Paddington In Peru is messier than its forebears.
Peru, Paddington’s homeland, is the last unturned stone for the bear (voiced by Ben Whishaw) and his adoptive family, the Browns. Now a British citizen looking to test out his new passport, Paddington gets word from Reverend Mother (Olivia Colman) at the Home for Retired Bears that Aunt Lucy (voiced by Imelda Staunton) has lost her lust for life. Is that enough excuse to get Paddington in Peru? Well, The Brown family could use a vacation.
On the verge of empty-nesting, Mary (Emily Mortimer, taking over for Sally Hawkins) sees the adventure as a last chance to share a sofa with her growing children, Jonathan (Samuel Joslin) and college-bound Judy (Madeleine Harris), and suddenly thrill-seeking husband, Henry (an underused Hugh Bonneville). Once they land, Reverend Mother reveals that Aunt Lucy has flown the coop, leaving only her glasses, a bracelet, and a map behind. Paddington straps the bracelet to his wrist and heads into the heart of darkness.
Stepping in for King, sadly still trapped in the Wonka factory, first-time feature director Dougal Wilson shifts the setting away from cozy toy shop interiors to a jungle cruise captained by Hunter Cabot (Antonio Banderas) and his daughter Gina (Carla Tous). Hunter comes from a line of failed explorers, missionaries, and nation builders who could not find El Dorado because they lacked the key that’s now dangling from Paddington’s wrist. But all this lore about Paddington’s missing family and the lost city of gold comes at the expense of Paddington’s essential delights. Wilson’s new team of writers—Mark Burton, Jon Foster, and James Lamont—flips the dynamic between Paddington and the Browns, who now play the fishes out of water. But the movie strains to find organic mishaps for Paddington. Whether on Hunter’s boat or in Paddington’s natural habitat, the script never finds much for the Browns to do.