'Paddington in Peru' review: The movie we need right now
Look, Paddington in Peru is no Paddington 2, but what is? With that sequel, co-writer/director Paul King cooked up the perfect blend of physical comedy, sugary sweetness, madcap adventures, and just a dash of thrilling danger. It was the rare movie that could get a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, after the first two Paddington movies, King and co-writer Simon Farnaby then left the Brown family behind to tackle the wonder that was Wonka. In their absence, this sequel was entrusted to music video director Dougal Wilson, who makes his feature debut with Paddington in Peru. And what a debut!
Rather than trying to recapture lightning in a bottle with a third adventure set in London, Paddington in Peru returns the eponymous bear to his roots in the Amazon jungle. This setting opens up thrilling new possibilities, as the Brown family becomes the fish out of water while Paddington meets new friends and foes, played by such cinema luminaries as Academy Award–nominee Antonio Banderas and Academy Award–winner Olivia Colman. Together with much of the original cast, this sequel delivers fresh fun and a valuable reminder of the power of Paddington.
Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Imelda Staunton, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, and Ben Whishaw star as the Brown Family in "Paddington in Peru." Credit: Studio Canal / Peter Mountain
Immigrant bear Paddington Brown has successfully settled into the United Kingdom, achieving his British passport! And it's well-timed, as an urgent letter from Darkest Peru alerts him that his Aunt Lucy is unwell. Ever at his side, the Brown family follows him to the Home for Retired Bears, where a jubilant nun known as Reverend Mother (Colman) informs them that Lucy has gone off into the jungle on a curious quest. To find her, they'll call on the help of a debonair captain, Hunter Cabot (Banderas), and his plucky teen daughter, Gina (Carla Tous).
What adventures lie ahead of them? Well, there will be wild rapids, piranhas, and booby traps, along with marmalade, family bonding, and a well-timed hard stare. Returning as the voice of Paddington, Ben Whishaw is unceasingly adorable, while his returning castmates — including Imelda Staunton, Hugh Bonneville, Samuel Joslin, and Madeleine Harris — are reliably winsome. But the casting of the wild new characters makes Paddington in Peru a standout instead of just another sequel.
Olivia Colman stars as the Reverend Mother in "Paddington in Peru." Credit: Studio Canal / Peter Mountain
Leaping from the snarky comedy of Peep Show to furrowed-brow crime-drama Broadchurch with ease, Colman has long shown an almost offensively dizzying range as an actress. So, when she shows up in Paddington in Peru with a nun's habit and an alarmingly wide smile, there's an intoxicating promise in the glint in her eye. Things will get wild.
Reverend Mother could be an odd but wonderful human, destined to help Paddington in his rescue mission as the tough-shelled but kindhearted Knuckles did in Paddington 2! Or she could be a deeply eccentric villain in the vein of Paddington's overzealous taxidermist (Nicole Kidman) or Paddington 2's dangerously egotistical thespian (Hugh Grant). But it almost doesn't matter where her character will go, because of how intensely she sinks her teeth into the bouncy comedy of this film series.
In a rousing song number that plays like a cheeky parody of Sound of Music, Colman's nun throws a full-sized guitar in the air so she might spin about, the mountains of Peru her towering, gorgeous backdrop. The guitar soars high above her and out of frame for an inconceivable amount of time, as if gravity has no hold on this Reverend Mother. Then just as she stops spinning and looks dead into the camera at us, her audience, it plunges back into frame and snugly into her grip. Some might consider Paddington in Peru a kids movie, but it was the grown-ups who roared with laughter and applause at this early bit of Colman meets Paddington brilliance.
Antonio Banderas stars in "Paddington in Peru." Credit: Studio Canal / Peter Mountain
Like Colman, Banderas has a filmography that can give you whiplash, moving from the lurid and shocking dramas of Pedro Almodóvar (Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, The Skin I Live In, Pain and Glory) to the snarling action of Desperado to his ongoing string of dynamic kids' movies, from Spy Kids to Shrek 2 to The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water and now Paddington in Peru. As he did in the underseen Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Banderas smoothly swans into the role of a man of adventure. But rather than giving a spicy sex appeal, he leans into an almost vaudevillian performance, broad and bonkers. He not only plays the captain who cruises down the Amazon River but also a handful of this captain's dynamic ancestors.
Donning a collection of wigs, prosthetics, and distinctive costumes, Banderas gamely creates a legacy of lunacy, from a snarling Spanish conquistador to a tunnel-visioned missionary to a sultry aviatrix with an Amelia Earhart costume and a Veronica Lake attitude. After years of voicing Puss in Boots in various Shrek sequels and spinoffs, it seems Banderas has learned to become a living, breathing cartoon. Placed opposite a CGI bear, he is perfectly suited.
Undoubtedly, the movie's animation team deserves accolades for their superb execution of a fresh series of complicated physical comedy gags, which pull inspiration from everything from Raiders of the Last Ark to Steamboat Bill, Jr. Their bear is a marvel, so lifelike and emotive that it's easy to believe — as Hugh Grant's dad believed of the last movie — that a real bear was on set. But so too does Banderas deserve props for matching the energy of this daffy, delightful bear. The result is a chaotic climax that is absolutely exhilarating.
Paddington gets in a tangle in "Paddington in Peru." Credit: Studio Canal / Peter Mountain
Whatever the premise, each Paddington movie shows us a trusting young bear who will inevitably face a ghastly betrayal. The world is not as gentle as Paddington deserves. And yet, he never loses faith in goodness. He gives a hard stare when it's called for. He makes friends everywhere he goes. He commits himself unabashedly to his family, and he strives to be kind even in the face of cruelty. And each time, he comes out on top — with a little help from his friends.
Screenwriters Mark Burton, Jon Foster, and James Lamont maintain these themes while working in fresh flourishes. So Paddington in Peru is a satisfying sequel, delivering what fans would hope for in terms of laughs, action, whimsy, and — well — hope. Paddington is not naive about the world around him, and he won't be written off as a fool for trusting a could-be friend. But when the world knocks him down (say down a flight of stairs in a bathtub, or down some raging rapids), he will get right back up, undefeated and defiantly joyful.
In this there's a lesson that speaks to adults perhaps even more than children. Maybe you won't sit back and sink into the message of Paddington's resistance to apathy or cynicism across three films. But Paddington in Peru gives us just enough to follow in his paw prints and feel that rush of love and laughter again.
Let Paddington in Peru be the emergency marmalade sandwich in your hat, succor for the tough times.
Paddington in Peru opens in theaters in the U.S. on Feb. 14.
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