It’s weird that Paddington 2 is as good as it is. It feels impossible. It’s just the perfect family film, filled with dynamic action sequences, heartfelt moments, and a career-reviving villain performance from Hugh Grant. Another sequel could never live up to this film or the original, and for a while it seemed like they wouldn’t dare. Unfortunately, no franchise can end these days, and here we find ourselves with Paddington in Peru, a perfectly fine movie that is a clear tier lower than the others. It is still better than essentially every Dreamworks movie.
Soon after getting his British passport, his naturalization complete, Paddington (Ben Whishaw) receives a letter from the Mother Superior (Olivia Colman) at the Home for Retired Bears, where his Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) spends her days. According to the Mother Superior, Aunt Lucy has been acting strange, and she believes a visit from her nephew could be just the thing to cheer her up. So Paddington and the Brown family head to Peru, only to find that Aunt Lucy has disappeared into the jungle without a trace. With the help of an eccentric boat captain (Antonio Banderas) the Brown family set off on a dangerous quest to find Aunt Lucy and perhaps learn something about Paddington’s family history along the way.
In an odd bit of deja vu, the film opens with the same incident that began the second film: Paddington’s rescue as a cub. This version strangely leaves out Uncle Pastuzo (the departed Michael Gambon), who does not even get a mention until the end of the film. This flashback makes it look like Aunt Lucy raised Paddington on her own, proof that things might be a little off. Perhaps they didn’t want to confuse new viewers by featuring a character who died in the first film? This oddness continues as we see that Mrs. Brown is no longer played by Sally Hawkins, but is now Emily Mortimer (avian bone syndrome from 30 Rock). Nothing against Mortimer, who is an accomplished actress and does well here, but Hawkins gave an unrivaled performance that brought so much to the proceedings. She is sorely missed.
Antonio Banderas gamely plays his wacky explorer/gold fiend character, including being haunted by apparitions of his ancestors. They really had to twist his arm to get him in Amelia Earhart drag, I’m sure. His relationship with his daughter is a bit underbaked, but only because there’s just a lot of stuff happening. It’s tough when a film’s main protagonist is very kind and somewhat passive. Not that Paddington is a pushover, but a lot of things just happen to him and he manages in his very British way. But as we saw in Paddington 2, he can be quite driven. Do you understand what he went through to get that pop-up book for Aunt Lucy? Were you THERE? While Paddington is motivated to find Aunt Lucy, he is continually wrapped up in other subplots with far less interesting stakes. It still never ceases to amaze me how many people end up wanting to kill this bear wearing a hat…
The best part of the film is the mugging Olivia Colman can pull off in a full habit. She is having a blast being a kooky nun with more secrets than you’d like for a nun to have. Otherwise Paddington in Peru is a harmless, but enjoyable, family film starring one of the few CGI characters to not look disgusting interacting with the real world. Kids’ movies should be at least this solid by default, but too few studios care about quality entertainment. I bring up the Uncle Pastuzo inconsistency because I know kids will too!
Paddington in Peru
2025
Dir. Dougal Wilson
106 min
Opens Thursday, 2/13 @ Apple Cinemas Cambridge, Alamo Drafthouse Boston Seaport, and all local AMCs
