Paddington in Peru is Charming as Fuck

When I was a boy, I had a stuffed Paddington bear. I loved that stuffed animal; it was my favorite. When I visited England as an adult, I visited Paddington Station to buy a stuffed animal at the landmark that gave Michael Bond’s beloved creation its name.

The Paddington series is universally beloved. Paddington 2 scored 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes before some worthless piece of shit who hates joy and happiness ruined its perfect rating by inexplicably giving it a negative review.

Yet I semi-inexplicably hadn’t seen a Paddington movie before last night. That’s because the first film was released in 2014 when I was employed as a film critic at The Dissolve but was not assigned to review that particular movie.

Paddington 2 came out not long after the launch of Nathan Rabin’s Bad Ideas, but I hadn’t yet decided to make watching and writing about new movies the weekend they come out a major component of my career.

I’m glad that I finally caught up with the franchise. It was everything that I had hoped it would be and more. At the risk of engaging in hyperbole, Paddington Bear might be the single most incredible CGI creation, except for King Kong and Gollum, played by Andy Serkis.

Holy fucking shit, is Paddington in Peru delightful! Paddington Bear isn’t just one of the most fantastic computer-generated characters in film history; he’s one of the greatest characters in film history, live-action or otherwise.

Paddington is right up there with Norma Desmond, Charles Foster Kane, Chappie, Corey from Halloween Ends, and Herman “Mank” Mankiewicz in the pantheon of great film icons.

Paddington in Peru opens with the ursine charmer receiving a letter informing him that his beloved Aunt Lucy (voiced by Imelda Staunton) has been missing him acutely and behaving curiously.

This alarms Paddington, so he returns to his home country to investigate the situation. However, he does not travel alone. Except for the brother, Paddington takes his adopted family with him on his heroic quest to cheer up his elderly relation.

Henry (Hugh Bonneville) and Mary (Emily Mortimer) Brown feel wistful and bittersweet about their children growing older and eventually leaving home, so they take a South American vacation as a bonding activity for animals and men alike.

In Peru, the Browns meet The Reverend Mother (Olivia Colman), a perpetually grinning nun whose cheerfulness comes off as vaguely psychotic. It’s a delightful parody of the Singing Nun archetype. The Reverend Mother’s relentless pep is suspicious for a good reason; she’s every bit the fraud and phony she appears to be.

It’s a fun star turn from an Oscar-winning dramatic actress giddy at playing such a silly role. In Peru, Paddington and the Browns learn that Aunt Lucy disappeared while looking for a mysterious place known as Rumi Rock.

They hire eccentric boat operator Hunter Cabot (Antonio Banderas) and his daughter Gina (Carla Tous) to help them navigate the tricky terrain of the Peruvian jungle.

Paddington in Peru empowers Banderas to go as big and broad as humanly possible. It’s a delightful exercise in self-parody that ratchets up the Spanish hunk’s shtick to 11. Banderas doesn’t just have a ball playing one larger-than-life lunatic.

The screenplay has the obsessive adventurer communicate regularly with the ghosts of his predecessor, most notably a Conquistador who cares about one thing and one thing only: respecting Indigenous people. Just kidding! Like all conquistadors, Hunter is out for gold, beautiful, beautiful gold.

Hunter has devoted his life to a Quixotic search for El Dorado, which is canonically both a fabled South American city of gold and a fish and chips shop in London.

Paddington in Peru becomes the story of two overlapping quests. There’s Paddington and the Browns’ heroic hunt to save a beloved matriarch who could be in trouble or dead and an amoral pursuit of gold and, with it, wealth and power.

Director Dougal Wilson, a music video veteran, replaces Paul King, who directed the first two films. He brings a postmodern playfulness to the proceedings while highlighting the natural beauty of the Peruvian jungle.

Paddington in Peru is ultimately the story of an immigrant whose mind is broadened and whose life is enriched by traveling back to his homeland. Paddington is the most domesticated of wild animals. He’s also the most British.

Paddington isn’t wild but mild. Paddington is utterly irresistible thanks to Ben Whishaw’s lovely voiceover performance and gorgeous animation. Paddington isn’t just likable; he’s the most lovable character in pop culture.

Some day all that’s keeping me from despair is a sincere belief that Paddington loves me.

I saw The Monkey and Paddington in Peru on consecutive days. They both earned positive reviews from me, but otherwise, they couldn’t be more different. The Monkey is a gleefully misanthropic dark comedy in which life is cheap, of dubious value, and comes to a colorful end in various ways.

In sharp contrast, Paddington in Peru is a profoundly humane and humanistic endeavor. It’s funny, smartly written, and gorgeously filmed, but more than anything, it is a nice movie—not just a nice movie; it could very well be the nicest movie ever.

I would have enjoyed a thematically appropriate cameo from Werner Herzog, who isn’t averse to popping up in random nonsense, but otherwise, this is a goddamn delight.

Paddington may be a computer-animated bear, but he’s more poignantly, convincingly human than most live-action human protagonists.

Franchises are often exhausted when they reach their third entry, but Paddington in Peru shows no signs of creative exhaustion.

The third Paddington sequel can’t come soon enough, as far as I’m concerned.

The world is a terrifying and crazy-making place right now. That’s why we need to channel our inner Paddington, as a reminder that abundant good exists in the universe. Like Paddington and the Browns and their hunt for Aunt Lucy, we just need to know where to look.

Four and a half stars out of Five