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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.

Paddington In Peru is still sweet as marmalade, but twice as messy
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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.

While Paddington In Peru pales in comparison to his first two outings, the lead character still commands a great deal of goodwill. Paddington is one of the most successful CGI creations ever. Few collections of ones and zeroes provoke as much emotion. Given life by Whishaw, in another masterclass of voice acting, Paddington’s gentle growl is the foundation upon which the film rests—and that foundation is as hard as his stare. However, Paddington still needs a counterbalance, and here, it takes two great actors to fill the spot left by the second film’s Hugh Grant.

Aping the structure of an Indiana Jones adventure, Paddington In Peru, for better or worse, most closely resembles Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, with its bevy of twists, jungle hijinks, and villains. Colman is hilarious as Reverend Mother, finding pockets of time to reveal second and third punchlines. However, Banderas—at home in CGI jungles after similar expeditions in Uncharted, Dial Of Destiny, and a forgotten turn in Dolittle—doesn’t surprise audiences like Grant or Nicole Kidman. 

Haunted by his ancestors, Cabot hopes Paddington can unlock the secrets of El Dorado, and the truth of Paddington’s family, with Aunt Lucy’s ancient talisman. The film’s story gets more and more complicated, with information and characters at every turn, but doesn’t find much resonance. The series is better when it keeps things simple. Paddington 2 was about buying a pop-up book for Aunt Lucy.

Eight years after the last sequel, Paddington In Peru groans from growing pains. Things are creakier as the bear returns to his natural habitat. The Browns in particular struggle to find a reason to be in the movie, separating from Paddington entirely to deal with Henry’s fear of spiders. And yet, even as Wilson and his writers overindulge in Paddington lore, Whishaw and the animators generate genuine joy and sadness from Michael Bond’s creation. Paddington In Peru even makes thematic gestures towards colonialism and immigration, distilling these nuanced lessons into a timely and welcome message of valuing family over riches. It’s all plenty charming, but the ratio of ingredients is off. Still, while this batch might have too much sugar and not enough fruit, Paddington In Peru still makes a satisfying bite, even if it leaves one’s hands a little sticky.

Director: Dougal Wilson
Writers: Mark Burton, Jon Foster, James Lamont
Stars: Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Carla Tous, Olivia Colman, Antonio Banderas, Ben Whishaw
Release Date: February 14, 2025

 
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