Olivia Colman performs a singing nun. I’m virtually ready to say that’s all it is advisable to learn about Paddington in Peru: that Olivia Colman, residing English treasure, will get her Julie Andrews on and leads a song-and-dance sequence on an alpine meadow that tells us that the hills are nonetheless very a lot alive. It’s not a lot of a spoiler to say that her Reverend Mom proves to be one thing lower than exemplary within the lethal sins division, not less than those that contain mendacity. That’s one of the best bit, actually: the singing nun within the naughty nook.
Paddington in Peru is the third movie to adapt Michael Bond’s iconic youngsters’s tales. All of it’s effective, truly, not simply Colman’s homage to the Von Trapps. Directing duties have handed from Paul King to Dougal Wilson, who could not have King’s Midas contact with bodily comedy, however has in any other case saved the ship regular. The story components, for instance, are recognizable: we’re on one other treasure hunt, with one other glamorous villain and extra slapstick sequences the place Paddington will get wrong-pawed by the workings of on a regular basis objects. The one distinction – and it’s a spectacular distinction, admittedly – is that we’re not in picture-postcard London any extra. We’re within the Andes, trying down at Machu Picchu.
The journey kicks off briskly. Paddington receives a letter from Peru telling him that his beloved Aunt Lucy has inexplicably gone lacking from her jungle cabin on the House for Retired Bears. What to do? Mr. Brown (Hugh Bonneville), beneath hearth at work for being insufficiently risk-taking, is persuaded that the entire household ought to go to Peru to search for her, braving tarantulas, piranhas and different quantifiable risks. With Mr. Brown in his new, sartorially risk-taking vacation wardrobe, they’ll certainly discover her in a jiffy.
A change of continents has allowed Paddington’s manufacturing designers, this time headed up by Andrew Kelly, to double down on their spectacular inventiveness. The House for Retired Bears, benignly administered by the musical nuns, resembles an island gents’s membership in early Bond motion pictures: suppose cane furnishings, the wistful whiff of Empire and a faintly sinister air.
Then we’re all on board dashing Captain Cabot’s boat, an excellent confection of brass fittings and polished wooden, heading upriver. Aunt Lucy, it transpires, has gone in search of the misplaced Inca treasure of El Dorado; Captain Cabot (Antonio Banderas), haunted by the grasping ghosts of his conquistador forebears, is decided to beat her to it.
The dramatis personae are comfortably acquainted. As Paddington, Ben Whishaw’s barely plaintive voice merges seamlessly with Pablo Grillo’s furry animation. Has a hero ever been extra irresistibly lovable? Bonneville, because the ineffectually pompous Mr. Brown, at all times gives the look of getting a whale of a time. The Brown youngsters (Madeleine Harris and Samuel Joslin) are 10 years older than they have been at first, however nonetheless reassuringly batty; crotchety Mrs Hen (Julie Walters) continues to assault misbehaving electrics with a large spanner.
Different characters are new, however we see instantly the place they match. Banderas primarily serves the identical goal as Hugh Grant did in Paddington 2: he’s excessive and as much as no good. So sturdy is the established Paddington mannequin, actually, that we barely register that Mrs. Brown is now being performed by Emily Mortimer relatively than Sally Hawkins. Mortimer is grounded and mumsy the place Hawkins was flighty and impetuous, however she slots in so properly – or maybe the slot itself is so properly crafted – that she appears to have at all times been there.
In one other respect, nevertheless, the brand new story (by Paul King, Simon Farnaby and Mark Burton) takes us into new territory. Everyone knows that Paddington Bear arrived as an immigrant with no papers, past the label saying “Please take care of this bear,” and was adopted and guarded by the Browns. This movie begins with the arrival of his new British passport, making him a citizen finally. Even on that blissful day, nevertheless, he feels the tug of one other dwelling when he seems at an Inca carving within the vintage store owned by Mr. Gruber (Jim Broadbent). That pull of the previous turns into overwhelming within the Peruvian jungle, Paddington is ready to hint his roots for the primary time.
The bear is torn, a divided self; it’s the immigrant expertise, conveyed with out condescension however in a method that even very younger youngsters will perceive. On the finish of the hunt, he faces a dilemma — the place does he belong? – even because the Browns restate their love for him. I admit I bought a bit teary.
It doesn’t matter if this movie is far the identical type of factor because the final one, warmed over. The truth is, that’s precisely what you need: third time round, the story of the little bear welcomed by strangers stays magical. And if it’s novelty you’re after, there’s Olivia Colman, twirling on a mountain-top in a nun’s behavior. You understand you need to see that.
Title: Paddington in Peru
Distributor: Studiocanal/Sony
Launch date: November 8, 2024 (UK)/January 17, 2025 (U.S.)
Director: Dougal Wilson
Writers: Mark Burton, Jon Foster, James Lamont, Paul King, Simon Farnaby
Solid: Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, Carla Tous, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, Olivia Colman, Antonio Banderas, and Ben Whishaw
Score: PG
Operating time: 1 hr 46 minutes
