12/25
Paddington returns to Peru to visit his beloved Aunt Lucy, who now lives at the Retired Bear Home. With the Brown family at the helm, an exciting adventure ensues when a mystery plunges them into an unexpected journey.. The director of the previous two films, Paul King, decided not to direct this installment. However, he pitched the idea for this third film and served as an executive producer. Featured on The Graham Norton Show: Billy Crystal/Emily Mortimer/Hugh Bonneville/Pharrel Williams/Michael Kiwanuka (2024). If, like me, you agree that the first two Paddington films are among the greatest films ever made, this will be both a pleasure and a disappointment. Since it’s not about Paddington adjusting to living with a family in London, or how a normal family adjusts to living with a bear, it loses its original charm and certainly its humor. It’s just another jungle adventure movie…but with a bear. It has a different feel to it – more sentimental and visibly less funny. While the first two were fun for a crusty old Marx Brothers fan like me, this one is definitely more of a family film, clearly aimed at kids. I could say we need more of the Browns and their neighbors…..we might as well say we need Sally Hawkins, but what’s the point. We had all of that in the first two, and since they were…dare I say, perfect, there was no point in trying to copy them. So yes, it’s different, horribly over-sentimental at times and nothing short of funny, but it’s still Paddington. Routine family fun, not hilariously weird cuteness.