PADDINGTON IN PERU (2024)

How do you top the critical and commercial success of Paddington 2 (2017), a sequel that surpassed all expectations and scored a near-perfect 99% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes? If you’re director Paul King, you wisely move on to bigger Hollywood projects like Wonka (2023). If you’re commercials director Dougal Wilson, hired to replace King and continue the story, you reverse the fish-out-of-water concept and hope a fresh location will keep audiences happy.

Paddington in Peru finds the eponymous bear (voiced by Ben Whishaw) travelling from London back to his homeland, after hearing that his beloved Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) is missing him deeply. Paddington and his adopted human family, the Browns—Henry (Hugh Bonneville), his wife Mary (Emily Mortimer), daughter Judy (Madeleine Harris), son Jonathan (Samuel Joslin), and housekeeper Mrs Bird (Julie Walters)—thus embark on a plane ride to South America, arriving in a convent run by cheerful Reverend Mother (Olivia Colman). Unfortunately, it seems Aunt Lucy’s disappeared in suspicious circumstances, so Paddington and the Browns charter a boat captained by Hunter Cabot (Antonio Banderas) and his daughter Gina (Carla Tous), to go on a search through the Amazon towards the mysterious Rumi Rock…

This third Paddington adventure is more ambitious than its predecessors, blessed with a production budget of $90M, over double Paddington 2’s $40M. Entrusting this project to someone making his feature-length debut, having made his name in short-form advertising (Dougal Wilson’s behind several of the popular John Lewis commercials for Christmas), feels like a risky proposition, but then so was letting Paul King make a live-action Paddington movie when his only other movie credit was Bunny and the Bull (2009), following TV episodes of Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace (2004) and The Mighty Boosh (2004–07).

There’s not too much here that makes it obvious there’s been a change in directors, as Wilson adheres to the tone and flavour that audiences have come to expect from Paddington. The opening act, in particular, is bursting with inventive moments and creative asides that are in keeping with what came before. I loved how Paddington flies to Peru in a “toy plane”, with footage of how the little bear’s journey went projected onto beautiful cotton wool clouds hung around it. That playful and slightly homespun energy is at the heart of why these movies work, and for the most part, Wilson replicates Paddington’s established aesthetic well. These are impeccably made children’s films.

The fundamental problem with Paddington in Peru is its story and underlying concept, which admittedly came from the mind of Paul King and his regular collaborator Simon Farnaby (who retain “story by” credits), so this sequel may have floundered whoever made it. The fact is, Paddington’s a character who works because he’s a lovable foreigner and classic “outsider” (not even from the same species as us), who comes to London and whose nature shines a light on human society—but particularly English notions of rules and decorum. There’s not a bad bone in the bear’s furry body, but his clumsiness and general naivety get him into mischief, which he usually overcomes by being so relentlessly lovable that even the bad guys come around on him. And when Paddington gives anyone his famously “hard stare”, it works because it makes people feel guilty that such a pleasant and tolerant person has taken against them. 

Much of this foundation is removed by returning Paddington to his native Peru. He knows the environment very well, so despite a few amusing moments where it’s clear his urbanisation has dulled his instincts for life in the rainforest, there’s not as much entertainment value in seeing Paddington navigate a world he’s comfortable in. His clumsiness remains, but that’s now the driving force in the hijinks —like sequences where he tries to get into a hammock or has his passport photo taken.

Having the Brown family tag along for the ride is also of mixed success. I don’t think many people care about those characters, and if you do it’s almost certainly the inherent appeal of Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins (here seamlessly replaced by Emily Mortimer), and not the two forgettable kids—who are now grumpy teens, so even the family dynamic’s a little off. In the previous films, Paddington would be separated from the Browns, which happens here too, but they’re not as easy to set aside now they’re actively engaged in the same quest to find Aunt Lucy. So you have to give them all something to be doing, which isn’t always successful. There’s the idea the kids are growing up and less interested in being around their parents, and that Henry and Mary are afraid of becoming empty-nesters, but it’s not enough to keep you engaged with them as characters.

The Paddington movies always have fun opportunities for actors to chew some scenery, or have fun with a more cartoonish role their own family’s children can enjoy. Most famously, Hugh Grant was a delightful scene-stealer in Paddington 2, playing conniving actor Phoenix Buchanan (who returns for an end-credits cameo here), so in Paddington in Peru we have Olivia Colman and Antonio Banderas trying to enliven things with eccentric performances. Colman is the most successful as a perpetually smiling nun, prone to singing with a guitar, and haplessly drawing suspicion to herself with every utterance. Colman has a comedy background, of course, so is well-suited to a movie like this, but she unfortunately overplays everything to such an extent it soon becomes aggravating.

Banderas isn’t too bad, as he has ample experience playing variations of the “Spanish adventurer” or “sea captain” in most things these days—beginning with The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015) as a silly pirate, continuing with a treasure hunter in Uncharted (2022), and most recently a frogman in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2024). His character here just isn’t that funny, and his parental issues with his Dora the Explorer-esque daughter, echoing the Browns, are equally as half-hearted. At least there’s a fun visual device where Banderas gets to play his character’s gold-loving ancestors, who appear as “ghosts” to whisper about finding the fabled El Dorado. But the real “treasure” is your daughter, of course, as lessons must be learned along the way. (The daughter he recklessly abandons in the uncharted jungle at one point.)

I don’t know if setting a third Paddington movie in London would have pushed it beyond breaking point (as there are only so many famous landmarks you can utilise ), but shifting the story into more of a child-friendly Raiders of the Lost Ark (1980) safari perhaps worked better on paper. They should have perhaps gone on a trip to bonny Scotland, to retain the essential British flavour but give some quirky Scottish actors a chance to shine. Maybe a fourth film will remember the fundamentals of what a Paddington adventure demands to work.

UK • FRANCE • JAPAN • USA | 2024 | 106 MINUTES | 2.35:1 | COLOUR | ENGLISH

Blu-ray Special Features:

Paddington in Peru is a film that’s abundant with colour and detail, so the 1080p Blu-ray version does a great job of bringing events to life on a visual level. I’m sure the 4K Ultra HD version would be even better, but I wasn’t disappointed by this HD transfer. It’s certainly a bit “digital” looking thanks to all the greenscreen and the CGI Paddington himself, all set in mostly bright daylight, but there’s no denying it makes an impression.

A Dolby Atmos track is a welcome addition too, and the sound mix anchors you into the wilderness of Peru very well. There aren’t any sequences that truly stood out to me, but just in general the dialogue was clear and everything had a pleasant clarity and weight to it.

• The Making of Paddington in Peru (4K Ultra HD disc only).
• The Story of Paddington in Peru.
• The Home for Retired Bears Tour.
• Brown’s House Tour.
• “Let’s Prepare for Paddington” with the Reverend Mother.

Cast & Crew

director: Dougal Wilson.
writers: Mark Burton, Jon Foster & James Lamont (story by Paul King, Simon Farnaby & Mark Burton).
starring: Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Carla Tous, Olivia Colman, Antonio Banderas & Ben Whishaw (voice).