Director: Paul King
Distributor: Studiocanal
Duration: 103 minutes
Paddington 2 (DVD) – Movie Review
Paddington, the cute, fuzzy little bear with the blue coat and the red hat has been around for over sixty years now but, as proves the second film with this little bear in the lead, he is far from forgotten. While in the first film, he still had to find a family in the big city of London, he is now completely settled in with the Browns, and truly found where he belongs. As the Brown family already know, a life with Paddington is never boring, and that he proves once again in this sequel.
Paddington (Ben Whishaw) has been living with the Browns in London for quite a while now, and he is thrilled to have found this new home. Of course, he still thinks about his aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) a lot, as she couldn’t come with him to London, but would have loved to see the city. As her 100th birthday is coming up, Paddington wants to give her a wonderful present. At Mr. Gruber’s (Jim Broadbent) antique shop, he finds the perfect present for her: a pop-up book showing twelve landmarks of London. Unfortunately, the book is quite expensive, as it was made by the great-grandmother of Madam Koslova, who owns the fair that is in town. As it really would be the perfect gift for aunt Lucy, Paddington decides to get a job to earn the money to buy it. As a window cleaner he is slowly but surely earning the money he needs.
One night, Paddington and the Browns go to Madam Koslova’s steam fair. It’s an old, charming fair, and Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant), a fallen but once very popular actor living in the Browns’ neighborhood, has been asked to open the fair. He invites Paddington on stage to open the fair with him and up to that point, Paddington is having a wonderful time. Later though, he sees someone break into Mr. Gruber’s shop, and steal the pop-up book. Paddington goes after him, but due to a big misunderstanding, he is arrested himself for stealing the book. Paddington and the Browns will have to do everything they can to prove his innocence, all while aunt Lucy’s birthday is coming closer, and Paddington still doesn’t have the perfect gift.
In this film, Paddington is actually very unlucky, and really has to fight for justice to be done. Through it all, he keeps being his charismatic, clumsy, slightly naïve but determined self, which is a great cocktail that keeps the film fresh. You’ll certainly have a good laugh watching this film, but you’ll equally have to shed a tear when he gets falsely accused of stealing the book. The story gets heavy at some points, but Paddington’s charm always makes things easier to cope with. A lot of visual effects went into creating this move, but the result is definitely one to be proud of. Especially the scene inside the pop-up book is simply stunning eye candy.
Hugh Grant plays the villain in this movie, and he does so in a very fun way. Everything is exaggerated, but that’s part of the fun, and part of what probably makes this film popular with children. He puts down the different sides of his character very well, and truly elevates the film. Further, it’s mostly Paddington himself, aka Ben Whishaw who steals the show.
There are quite a few extras on this DVD release, and most of them are quite interesting too. In the making of you can see how Paddington was digitally added to every scene he is in, and thus you can also see what it was like for the actors to be playing with no actual Paddington there. Further, there’s a sequence about Hugh Grant’s character Phoenix Buchanan, a BAFTA Q&A with the cast, and audio commentary should you be interested.
Conclusion
Paddington 2 provides a whole new challenge for the little bear, as while he only tries to be good, and find the good in others, he gets accused of stealing and has to deal with the consequences. Quite a hefty story, you might think, but it keeps being fun because of Paddington’s clumsy, honest way of handling things. You’ll definitely laugh a great deal, while at some moments, you’ll also feel deeply for Paddington. We found this to be the perfect mix between funny and sad, both for children and grownups, so if you haven’t decided which film to watch next, we’d suggest you put this one at the top of you to-watch list.
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