“Please look after this bear.” Those words appeared on the note around Paddington’s neck at the beginning of his eponymous 2014 movie and they might also have appeared on the desk of first-time film director Dougal Wilson – best known for several tear-jerking John Lewis Christmas adverts – when he agreed to direct Paddington in Peru. Wilson had a big duffle coat to fill after taking over from Paul King, who turned Michael Bond’s ursine hero into a cinema sensation with the 2014 film and 2017 sequel Paddington 2.
This time around, Paddington (Ben Whishaw) and the Brown clan jet off to Peru after receiving a message from the Reverend Mother (Olivia Colman) at the Home for Retired Bears. Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) misses him and would love a visit. But when the family arrives at the home on the edge of the Amazon, Aunt Lucy is missing – sparking a perilous journey into the jungle with the help of dashing boat captain Hunter Cabot (Antonio Banderas).
Cards on the table, the Paddington franchise is immensely important to me. In 2022, I included Paddington 2 in my top 10 ballot for Sight & Sound’s The Greatest Films of All Time poll of critics. So, as the lights went down at the beginning of Paddington in Peru, I was a little nervous. My overriding feeling was “don’t mess this up” or, to put it another way, please look after this bear.
I needn’t have worried. Paddington in Peru is a joyous blast of charm that wisely embraces what has come before it. Wilson’s movie is packed with nods and references to the other films and fits squarely into the tone established by King and co-writer Simon Farnaby – both of whom get a “story by” credit here. It helps that the writing staff for the new film includes Jon Foster and James Lamont, who have done terrific work on the animated TV series The Adventures of Paddington. They get this world and they get this bear.
This film might take place thousands of miles away from Windsor Gardens, but the tone is familiar in the best way – like a warm cuppa or, if you must, a marmalade sandwich. These characters are believable and likeable, providing enough comedy value and warmth to support the film even away from its reliable bench of supporting cast members. It helps that Colman’s singing nun has enough luminous comic energy to fill the entire jungle, delivering some of her funniest lines in a delightful, smiling deadpan.
It’s true, though, that Paddington 2 remains an impossible watermark to beat. The raised stakes in this threequel inevitably obscure some of the heart, while none of the slapstick action sequences can hold a candle to the train chase from the previous film. Emily Mortimer, too, is handed something of a poisoned chalice, delivering a solid performance as Mrs Brown while lacking the uniquely ethereal charm of Sally Hawkins – her predecessor in the role.
But these are minor quibbles for a film that provides blockbuster spectacle while maintaining the charming sense of treacly warmth that sits at the heart of these movies. Its big emotional swings land exactly as intended and the third act delivers a genuinely important message about celebrating people – and bears – of mixed heritage.
If this joyful, big-hearted, and endlessly silly adventure is anything to go by, Paddington is in good hands. Like the Browns all those years ago, Dougal Wilson has decided not just to look after this bear, but to treat him like family. And in a world full of grey clouds, literal and metaphorical, that’s worth its weight in gold – or marmalade.
Paddington in Peru is in UK cinemas from 8th November.
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