17/21
Paddington returns to Peru to visit his beloved Aunt Lucy, who is now living in the Bear Retirement Home. An exciting adventure begins with the Brown family when a mystery leads them on an unexpected journey. The director of the previous two films, Paul King, decided not to direct this installment. However, he came up with the idea for the third film and was attached as an executive producer. They starred in The Graham Norton Show: Billy Crystal/Emily Mortimer/Hugh Bonneville/Pharrell Williams/Michael Kiwanuka (2024). If, like me, you agree that the first two Paddington films are among the best films ever made, this one is both enjoyable, necessary, and disappointing. Because it is not about how Paddington adjusts to life with his family in London, nor how a normal family adjusts to life with a bear, it loses its original charm and certainly the humor. It’s just another jungle adventure movie… but with a bear. It has a different tone – more sentimental and noticeably less funny. Where the first two were funny to a sick old Marx Brothers fan like me, this one is definitely more of a family movie, clearly aimed at kids. I could say we need more of the Browns and 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 in trying to copy them. So yes, this one is different, at times terribly overly sentimental and not at all as funny, but it’s still Paddington. Routine family fun, not funny, weird sweetness.