GoMovieReview Rating: ★★★★
Rated: PG
Directed by: Dougal Wilson
Produced by: Rosie Alison
Based on the Character, Paddington Bear, Created by: Michael Bond
Screen Story by: Paul King, Simon Farnaby, Mark Burton
Screenplay by: Mark Burton, Jon Foster and James Lamont
Starring: Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Antonio Banderas, Olivia Colman, & Julie Walters with Ben Whishaw & Imelda Staunton as the voices of ‘Paddington’ & ‘Aunt Lucy’.
‘When skies are grey, hope is the way’ – Aunt Lucy.
The third instalment of the Paddington franchise opens a few bears ago…
Amongst the ferns and red flowers (not the spiky red ones, that comes later) is a sniffing bear cub, reaching for one, lone, enticing orange, right at the end of a branch. He reaches until the branch snaps…
Paddington in Peru unpacks Paddington’s origin story. Of how he became lost, only to be found by Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton).
But now, Aunt Lucy is lost.
Receiving a letter from the Mother Superior (Olivia Colman) who looks after Aunt Lucy in the Home for Retired Bears in Peru, Paddington (Ben Whishaw) decides he must return to his birthplace to find the one who found him. Took care of him. Who said, ‘If you ever get lost again, roar and I’ll roar right back.’
It’s just what the Brown family needs. An adventure. Together.
Mrs. Brown (Emily Mortimer) is struggling with the changes in the family, the children drifting away with Judy (Madeleine Harris) applying for university and Jonathan (Samuel Joslin) locked up in his room, inventing gadgets so he can spend more time chilling.
Mrs. Brown misses those years when the family would hang out together on the sofa, the ‘sofa years.’
Mr. Brown’s (Hugh Bonneville) new boss at the insurance company wants to embrace risk, so a dangerous trip to Peru sounds just the ticket, in spite of his risk averse nature.
When they meet river boat captain, Hunter (Antonio Banderas), along with his daughter Gina (Carla Tous), to hire a boat for their journey, the Brown family are quickly introduced to the perils of the amazon jungle. Did I mention the spikey red things? And the generational madness of Captain Hunter’s gold fever.
Paddington in Peru is a story of coming from somewhere but making another place home, of children flying the nest, of understanding and embracing change while holding on to what matters, family.
New director Dougal Wilson brings the same inventiveness as the previous Paddington films directed by Paul King, with the montage of moving painted portraits, the Brown family home shown as a doll’s house and ghosts brought to life like a fever dream.
Dougal states, ‘I thought it would be great fun to continue the style that Paul King had so brilliantly set up, using the feeling that the stories created in London and applying that to a place that wasn’t London. I aimed to bring that style, tone, and inventiveness to Peru.’
This film is filled with the green of the amazon and the heady views from ancient sites with filming locations from Machu Picchu, Huayna Picchu, Centre of Lima, Cerro San Cristobal, Cusco – Maras Town, Cusco – Maras Fields, Palccoyo Mountain, Abra Malaga, Santa Maria Road, Amparaes, Yanatile Road, Cusco Quillabamba – Sant Maria, Cusco Quillabamba – Santa Teresa Road.
There’s also that classic humour with Mr. Brown trying to be tough with his hard walk, a bow legged, hands-on-hips ramble he also employs when the plumber comes around.
Paddington narrates the storyline as he writes his letter so there’s that genuine heartfelt interpretation of the goings on, Ben Whishaw returning as the voice of Paddington so it would be impossible to imagine any other voice for the lovable bear.
Antonio Banderas brings his suave brand to the character of Mr. Hunt and his ancestors, the resemblance lending hilarious moments to his gold madness.
And, Onward Christian soooldiers, Olivia Colman as the Mother Superior has the facial expressions to show the multifaceted, nothing-suspicious-going-on-here, shenanigans of an innocent, not-so-innocent, nun.
The whole production is detailed to delight and a whole lot of fun, with yes, a few tearful moments.
I can’t quite give a higher rating than Paddington 2. Hugh Grant owned his character, the villain-of-many-disguises, Phoenix Buchanan, and I was chuffed to see his cameo here in Paddington 3.
But Paddington in Peru does not disappoint and is a good time, for, well, everyone.
