पैडिंगटन इन पेरु

If, like me, you agree that the first two Paddington films are amongst the greatest films ever made this will be both an enjoyable essential but also a disappointment.

Because it's not about Paddington adapting to living with a family in London or how a normal family adapts to living with a bear, it loses its original charm and certainly its humour. This is just another jungle adventure movie...but with a bear. It has a different feel about it - more sentimental and noticeably not as funny. Whereas the first two were hilarious to a decrepit old Marx Brothers fan like me, this one is definitely more of a family film clearly aimed at children.

I could say we need more of the Brown family and of their neighbours.....I could also say we need Sally Hawkins but what's the point. We had all that in the first two and since they were...dare I say, perfect, there'd be no point trying to copy them.

So yes, this is different, it's horribly over-sentimental at times and nothing like as funny but it's still Paddington. Routine family fun rather than hilarious quirky cuteness.

The first two Paddington films were great fun and full of charm, alongside some superb cameos. This film never quite gets going and you wonder what happened to the scriptwriters. Generally the performances are a bit clunky or barely fleshed out, and there are precious few laughs.

A real shame as Paddington 2 in particular was a gem, mostly driven by Hugh Grant being superb but ably supported by the prison crew. Paddington 3 is very run of the mill by comparison... it needed a much better script, fleshed out characters and funnier action scenes. An hour after watching it, you will perhaps hardly remember it at all....

Paddington in Peru is comfortably the weakest of the trilogy with the absence of Paul King and Simon Farnaby definitely being felt but this is still a delightful third instalment that loses none of the heart and brings everything set up in the first act to a neat conclusion thanks to another satisfying third act. It's a consistently funny adventure which never forgets the immigrant story at the heart of this as Paddington struggles to balance his past and future.

Ben Whishaw remains endlessly precious with another pitch perfect vocal performance so Paddington continues to be a much needed cinematic balm. Hugh Bonneville is really funny as he tries to be more courageous and Emily Mortimer is a worthy replacement even if Sally Hawkins is missed. Antonio Banderas gets to do everything Dial of Destiny stopped him doing, having a ball whilst he does it and Olivia Colman as a suspicious singing nun is another big highlight.

Dougal Wilson's direction brings enough whimsy through carrying over ideas from the predecessors and some new inventive ones as well as a few well placed references to other films. There's a lot of slapstick here as usual and it always escalates in unexpected ways. The CGI is pushed like never before, making it all the more impressive that the effects that bring Paddington to life rarely falter despite the sheer amount of CG bears this time.

I was quite disappointed by this movie. That's maybe a bit harsh because, taken on it's own merits, this is a quite adequate, perhaps even superior, family film. The trouble is that it really falls far short of the whimsy, the subtle humor, the cleverness of the previous two previous superlative Paddington movies.

It's hard to say why this is. I suspect it's because this is the first Paddington movie to take the story out of London and away from all those quirky British characters and backgrounds that enriched the previous movies and made them sparkle. Instead of finding adventure and excitement in the ordinary things that surround us, this movie puts Paddington and the Brown family into a already existing exotic adventure location. Jim Broadbent gets a few minutes of screen time and Hugh Grant makes a welcome appearance, but neither of them are given anything to do that could add a touch of magic, though I suspect they were included to do just that.

The actors do a good job. Antonio Banderas is great in his role. Olivia Colman is a great actress and adept at comedy, but she's pretty bland here. The young lady who plays Banderas' daughter also fails to sparkle, but that's more a fault with her dull character more than her acting.

There is one musical number towards the beginning that could have been left out and there is far too much maudlin sentimentality in the movie as a whole.

Family groups will enjoy this movie I have no doubt. If you're looking for the magic that made the first two Paddington movies so special, however, you will be disappointed.

The first two 'Paddingtons' were superb 'family fun' films - but the third, "Paddington In Peru", without writer / director Paul King or London as its location, is not. The titular bear (voiced by Ben Whishaw) returns to his native Peru with adoptive family Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer (replacing Sally Hawkins (shame)), Julie Walters, & kids - where they're pulled into a gold-hunting jungle adventure with the likes of Olivia Colman & Antonio Banderas. Old faves like Hugh Grant & Joel Fry cameo, and first-time director Dougal Wilson does fine, but nothing lifts the tame screenplay from Mark Burton, Jon Foster, & James Lamont. It's passable... but not a REAL 'Paddington'.