18/43
Paddington returns to Peru to visit his beloved Aunt Lucy, who now lives at the Home for Retired Bears. An exciting adventure with the Brown family begins when a mystery takes them on an unexpected journey. The director of the previous two films, Paul King, decided not to direct this part. However, he came up with the idea for this third film and was involved as an executive producer. The Graham Norton Show: Billy Crystal/Emily Mortimer/Hugh Bonneville/Pharrell Williams/Michael Kiwanuka (2024). If, like me, you agree that the first two Paddington films are the best of all time, this is both an enjoyable essential and a disappointment. Since it’s not about Paddington adjusting to family life in London, or how a normal family adjusts to living with a bear, it loses its original charm and certainly its humor. This is just another jungle adventure movie… but with a bear. It has a different vibe, more sentimental and definitely less fun. While the first two were fun for old Marx Brothers fans like me, this is definitely more of a family film, clearly aimed at kids. I could say we need more of the Brown family and their neighbors… I could even say we need Sally Hawkins, but what’s the point? We had all of that in the first two and since they were…dare I say perfect, there would be no point in trying to duplicate them. So yes, this is different, it’s terribly sentimental at times and not funny at all, but it’s still Paddington. Routine family fun rather than a hilariously cute extravaganza.