Paddington in Peru (2024, dir. Dougal Wilson)

by Jack Martin | Nov 9, 2024

Certificate: PG

Running Time: 106 mins

UK Distributor: Studiocanal

UK Release Date: 8 November 2024

WHO’S IN PADDINGTON IN PERU?

Ben Whishaw, Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Olivia Colman, Antonio Banderas, Carla Tous, Imelda Staunton

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Dougal Wilson (director), Mark Burton, Jon Foster and James Lamont (writers), Rosie Alison (producer), Dario Marianelli (composer), Erik Wilson (cinematographer), Úna Ní Dhonghaíle (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

Paddington (Whishaw) heads home to Peru for a daring adventure…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON PADDINGTON IN PERU?

After the particularly rough week we’ve all had, it only feels mightily appropriate for a new Paddington movie to come and cheer us up a little bit. After all, director Paul King’s live-action adaptations of Michael Bond’s beloved character have won universal acclaim for their utterly heartwarming appeal and are quickly being regarded as modern-day family classics with plenty of style, charm and whimsy to spare.

However, with King off doing Wonka, directing duties for Paddington in Peru, the third film in the series, have fallen to Dougal Wilson, who here makes his feature debut after a career of music videos for the likes of Coldplay and The Streets. Now, I am sure that Wilson is an extremely nice chap, and has nothing but the best of intentions with this character and the cinematic world that King originally conceived, but it’s clear from very early on that Dougal Wilson isn’t Paul King. And that, sadly, is a major reason why Paddington in Peru doesn’t come near the heights of its predecessors.

The film picks up on the London-based bear himself (voiced as ever by Ben Whishaw) and his adoptive human family the Browns – including parents Henry (Hugh Bonneville) and Mary (Emily Mortimer, replacing Sally Hawkins), their fast-growing children Judy (Madeleine Harris) and Jonathan (Samuel Joslin), and loyal housekeeper Mrs. Bird (Julie Walters) – when he receives his British passport, thereby asserting his citizenship. However, upon receiving a concerning letter from Peru, where his beloved Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) is residing at the Home for Retired Bears, Paddington and the Browns resolve to travel there together, only to learn from the residing Mother Superior (Olivia Colman) that Lucy has mysteriously set off into the jungle on an unknown mission. Eager to find his aunt, Paddington and company hire the services of local boat captain Hunter Cabot (Antonio Banderas) and his daughter Gina (Carla Tous) to transport them deep into the Peruvian jungle, where they inexplicably end up on a quest to find the fabled lost city of El Dorado.

Before I go any further, I should make it abundantly clear that I do not dislike this movie. It is a fine piece of family entertainment, filled with enough charm and heart to appease audiences of every age, all while keeping the original spirit of Paddington as pure as it possibly can. However, in comparison to what have been two exemplary films before it, under direction that lent heavily into the Wes Anderson-like whimsy of a talking bear in a red hat and blue coat with an insatiable appetite for marmalade, Paddington in Peru severely pales. Wilson, try as he does, is unable to completely replicate the eccentric wonder that King brought to the franchise, including the extraordinary levels of slapstick humour as well as the enchanting visuals, both of which helped illustrate the pleasant and sweet-natured world around Paddington Bear. Some of that is still present here, albeit much more muted, but unfortunately it isn’t enough to feel completely at home.

Despite that, even if it never becomes as spectacular as the previous Paddington movies, the film just about works on its own terms. There is a nice sense of adventure this time around, with a little bit of role-reversal as the London-based Browns now find themselves the collective fish-out-of-water when on Paddington’s home turf, and the film gives each family member something fun to do as they exit (pursued by a bear) into the vast jungle and its many natural obstacles. The main characters continue to be a delightful bunch, especially with the earnest bear himself as the mixture of Whishaw’s soothing vocals and the top-notch photorealistic effects providing marmalade for the soul, while the newer arrivals in the form of Olivia Colman and Antonio Banderas are clearly having oodles of fun chomping on as much scenery as they can, with the latter particularly enjoying himself as he plays multiple characters, including a woman pilot (it’s a bit complicated to explain here). Throw in some pleasing set-pieces, a few amusing sight gags, and a genuinely heartwarming conclusion, and you have yourself a pretty decent Paddington movie.

But that’s just it: the Paddington movies up to this point have been far more than pretty decent. It’s hard to shake the memory of those other films, which are in nearly every way above and beyond the mere quality of this one, despite the efforts of Wilson – working from a script by Mark Burton, Jon Foster and James Lamont, with King being given a story credit alongside Paddington 2 co-writer Simon Farnaby – to try and continue that feeling. It can’t help but feel like a bit of a letdown, even though it is still fairly good, because you’re always aware of the void that King has left which can’t easily be filled. It gets even more noticeable later on when they start replaying one or two scenes from the previous movies, including one with Emily Mortimer’s voice plastered over Sally Hawkins in a slightly belligerent attempt to erase the former actor from her role, and it reaches a point where you’d much rather rewatch those ones than this, since you remember feeling a lot more emotionally engaged and charmed by King’s whimsical style.

I wouldn’t call Paddington in Peru a flat-out disappointment, though. Sure, it’s definitely the weakest in the series thus far, but it still has plenty of heart and goodness to appeal towards anyone with a thudding soul. And after the week we’ve all just experienced, that’s all we could ever ask from Paddington right now.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Paddington in Peru manages to carry much of the charm and heart from the previous films, much of it coming from the eternal appeal of the titular bear himself, but the noticeable void left by previous director Paul King, try as Dougal Wilson does to replicate his whimsical nature, leaves it as the weakest entry yet.