The
first Paddington movie was nothing short of a gift when it was released in
2015. It was the most pleasant of surprises: a simple, beautiful, open-hearted
tale told with endless warmth and intelligence. “Paddington 2” just might even
be a slight step up from the original.
The film continues the adventures of
the sweet, marmalade-loving bear from the darkest jungles of Peru. Once again
voiced with innate sweetness by Ben Whishaw,
Paddington is still living with the Brown family: Mary and Henry (Sally Hawkins
and Hugh Bonneville), their two children, (Madeleine Harris and Samuel Joslin),
along with their longtime housekeeper, Mrs. Bird (Julie Walters).
The bear does his best to live by
the words taught to him by his beloved Aunt Lucy: “If we are kind and polite
the world will be right.” And with Aunt Lucy’s 100th birthday fast approaching,
Paddington wishes to do something special for her. He finds an antique pop-up
book of London, which seems like the perfect present to send back to her in
Peru. But when it turns out the book is the key to a long-lost treasure, the
bear runs afoul of a greedy, washed up actor by the name of Phoenix Buchanan (a
wonderful Hugh Grant). Before Paddington can save up the necessary funds to
purchase the book, the odious Buchanan steals the book for himself, and frames
the bear for the crime.
Paddington winds up in prison,
leaving the Browns to try and clear the poor bear’s name. But all is not lost,
as he bonds unexpectedly with surly prison chef, Knuckles McGinty
(Brendan Gleeson). Even behind bars, Paddington can’t help but inspire everyone
around him to be a little bit better.
Like the first film, “Paddington 2”
is at its heart an immigrant story. The sequel continues that film’s light
social subtext, even working in some light anti-Brexit commentary, courtesy of
the Brown’s xenophobic neighbor (Peter Capaldi).
Returning director Paul King (best known for the absurdist British TV series
“The Mighty Boosh”) brings wit and a gorgeously
inventive visual style to the tale.
Cheerfully spreading its message of
kindness and decency, “Paddington 2” is family entertainment at its best. It’s
so endlessly delightful, and infused with such joy, that I won’t be at all
surprised if I’m still talking about the film 10 months from now, when it comes
time to name my favorite movies of the year.
This article appears in Jan 31 – Feb 6, 2018.
While I enjoyed your review you missed mentioning some important points. In the movie, when Paddington is in prison it is obviously a referendum on the hard edged tactics of our current White House. The symbol of Paddington in prison stripes showed the fascism that is being displayed by the Trump ICE agents. Furthermore, the character Barry the Security Guard is a not so veiled analogy of our current ‘President’ with the orange fingernails and eyebrows.
It’s important that children’s entertainment is used to make aware of the nasty machinations of our elected officials. I only wish that they would have gone further and shown the holding chambers that are used for government undesirables.
I heartily recommend this picture!
Thank you.