Much of the appeal of “Paddington 2” is the way it combines classic British nostalgia with fast-forward contemporary filmmaking. Once again Ben Whishaw (“The Danish Girl”) perfectly embodies Paddington’s voice, and with the amazing digital work that makes Paddington and much else seem real, it’s easy to believe. Brown, who have adopted the talking Peruvian bear Paddington - named for the train station where he was found - as part of their family. Come late 2018, I suspect, this is one sequel that will hold up particularly well in the rearview mirror.Wonderful in every way, “Paddington 2” charmingly demonstrates the power of storytelling, the importance of imagination with a clear message and that what the world needs now is a bit of kindness.Īs a sequel to the 2014 “Paddington,” “Paddington 2” has the same creative team led by director and co-writer Paul King with returning cast members Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins as London’s Mr. They retain the spirit and the humane reassurance of the source material. These movies simply know what they’re doing. The mixture of live action and computer-generated imagery feels natural.
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The verbal jokes (every newspaper headline we see contains a clever bit) fold easily into the visual felicities (King’s staging and framing treat the action as a series of storybook pop-up moments, carefully composed but fleet-footed). “Paddington 2” throws a lot at our plaintive hero and a lot at the audience.
There’s a jailbreak straight out of Wes Anderson and “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” a somewhat protracted chase sequence set aboard a train and an end-credits sequence featuring Grant and a “Prisoners of Love”-type chorus performing an unlikely Sondheim song (“Listen to the Rain on the Roof,” from “Follies”) as a finale.
Brendan Gleeson is a significant asset in the role of Knuckles McGinty, the prison chef who becomes Paddington’s protector and pal. True to form, though, the bear improves the moods and the outlooks of his fellow prisoners. Hugh Grant plays this ham, a very funny master of disguise and courtier of camp.įramed for the book’s theft, Paddington ends up doing hard time. Someone’s onto the secret: a Shakespearean actor now getting by on dog food ads and dreaming of a one-man West End show to restore his former glory. The book, however, contains clues to a vast fortune, hidden away in London. The plot concerns a precious pop-up book Paddington wants to buy as a birthday present for his Aunt Lucy, back in Peru. Life is good for the wee bear, who draws the paranoid ire of nativist local law enforcement (Peter Capaldi) but who has a wealth of friends all over his beloved city. You don’t feel beaten up by the filmmakers’ attempts to engage a variety of audience quadrants “Paddington 2” is a lover, not a fighter.ĭirector Paul King returns to the franchise, co-writing “Paddington 2” with Simon Farnaby. Even with a fair amount of calamity and adversity in the story, the slapstick setbacks are treated with a light touch. Ben Whishaw’s vocal characterization as Paddington plays everything for simplicity and easygoing optimism.
But the further adventures of the dear Peruvian bear, adopted by the Brown family of London, express an unusually generous worldview. The sequel to the 2014 picture turns out to be every bit as deft, witty and, yes, moving as the first one. Meantime, fortunately, there’s “Paddington 2.”
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Reformulating Beatrix Potter as a brutish “Home Alone”/“Straw Dogs” melee, full of grim electrocutions, really does seem like a mistake. Here’s hoping the forthcoming film version of “Peter Rabbit” is less awful than its trailers suggest.
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