(courtesy IMP Awards)
Any time you’re around Paddington Bear is a good, warmhearted and wonderful time.
In the case of this reviewer, it began some decades ago with the books of Michael Bond, the man who gifted us this remarkably lovely and thoughtful character, beginning in 1958 with A Bear Called Paddington and finishing, posthumously in 2018 with Paddington at St. Paul’s.
It continued on through various TV appearances and in recent years, Paddington has made it to the big screen with Paddington (2014), Paddington 2 (2017) and now Paddington in Peru, which is essentially an origin story of sorts for one of Britain’s most beloved bears.
Of course, anyone who’s even so much as glanced in the direction of the charming Paddington stories will know that he (voiced by Ben Whishaw in the films) hails from “darkest Peru” where he was raised by his beloved Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) and that he was found by the very kind and inclusive brown family at the London rail station that gave him his name.
But what Paddington in Peru does beautifully is give us way more of an idea of what life was life in Peru for him, who his original family were before Aunt Lucy adopted him and, rather marvellously, where his great love of marmalade, and more particularly the oranges from which it’s derived came from.
As you would expect from a Paddington film, even where there’s been a change of directors – Dougal Wilson takes over the reins from Paul King who remains connected to the franchise as one of the co-writers of the story from which the screenplay came – the tone remains fun, upbeat, lively, sweet and very adventurous.
Put simply, Paddington films are good for the soul.
Even when there’s danger afoot, and once again, and there are nefarious souls who mean our beary friend harm from a treasure hunter (Antonio Banderas as Hunter Cabot) to a nun with dubious motives (played by Olivia Colman with gloriously loopy abandon) in Paddington in Peru, Paddington’s goodhearted, his tenacity and his willingness to stare down terrible people ensure he comes out on top and it all ends happily ever.
But what a fabulous ride we have getting there!
After receiving a concerning letter from the home for retired bears in Peru where Aunt Lucy lives, it takes no time for Paddington and the wonderfully supportive Brown family – Henry (Hugh Bonneville), Mary (Emily Mortimer who replaces Sally Hawkins who decided to step down from the role), and their kids Judy (Madeleine Harris) and Jonathan (Samuel Joslin) and housekeeper Mrs. Bird (Julie Walters) – to head out to the Amazon.
Their mission? To find Aunt Lucy who appears to have disappeared without a trace, and who might have been on a treasure hunt for the fabled city of El Dorado, a fabled location that turns a sort of simple (no, not really) jungle search for an old Peruvian bear into a galloping adventure down the Amazon, through thick vegetation and to a huge stone city atop a dizzyingly high mountain.
That’s a lot of adventure far from home – or close to it depending on where you stand; although the film’s end makes it clear where Paddington heart now lies geographically – for one plucky little bear but Paddington, all politeness, derring-do and stern remonstrations for those who turn out to be not as nice as they should be, handles it all, emerging at the end with a much better idea of who he is and where he’s from.
Packed full of wonderful visual gags and brilliantly creative and highly amusing allusions to a slew of movies including 2001 A Space Odyssey and Raiders of the Lost Ark, Paddington in Peru is a gem, serving up all the slapstick silliness and warmhearted loveliness we’ve come to expect from his onscreen adventures.
So well handled is Paddington’s foray to somewhere other than London that Paddington in Peru manages to avoid the common pitfalls of any franchise that sends its characters out beyond their usual locale for a bit of fresh, fun storytelling.
All too often those sorts of bold moves don’t work with the characters well and truly out of place away from their standard climes; but in the case of Paddington and the Browns, what sustains the film is that the essence of the Paddington stories, their innate sense of goodness and decency and charming fun survives the journey to South America and back home again.
And that is a relief.
While the idea of Paddington heading back to Peru on a journey of family reunion is a joyously appealing one, he is really a bear really born of London and a peculiarly quaint form of mid-twentieth century Englishness.
While that could be expressed anywhere in a sense, it works best in London where Paddington has family, a new life and a sense of identity tied to some very English things – would they necessarily resonate out in the wilds of Peru?
It turns out they do, and as Paddington and the Browns brave prickly red plant pods, giant snakes, impenetrable jungle and red-bellied piranha, and best big bads with an air of cartoon villainy to them, who Paddington is and why we love him so much shines through bright and clear, infusing this sprawling story with the very essence of what Michael Bond sought to convey over many decades of bringing his creation to life.
So, while yes, Paddington in Peru delivers up a big, blockbustery romp through Peru, all high stakes and big epic moments, we get a big warm hug of Paddington-ness, as our favourite London railway station-named bear stays true to himself and his thoroughly warmhearted and goodhearted ways and not only bests the baddies but finds out more about who he is, why he is the way he is and where it is he wants to call home, not just now but well into what turns out to be a very loving, inclusive and English future.