I was given the opportunity back in the spring to watch a rough cut of
Paddington In Peru, the story was all there but virtually none of the CGI
had been completed, and I was left completely underwhelmed by the whole
experience. Thankfully on a second viewing my faith in Paddington has been
restored as the completed version of Paddington In Peru is just wonderful
and the perfect tonic for those starved of decent family fare in the
cinema.
Paddington is still staying with the Browns when he receives word that his
Aunt Lucy has gone missing in Peru. Passport in hand and with some words of
wisdom from Mr Gruber (Jim Broadbent) and before you can say marmalade
sandwich Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw), the Browns (Hugh Bonneville
returns as Henry Brown as do Madeleine Harris and Samuel Joslin as Judy and
Johnathan Brown. Emily Mortimer replaces Sally Hawkins from the first two
films as Mrs Brown) and Mrs Bird (Julie Walters) find themselves in Peru at
the home for retired bears run by a Reverent Mother (Olivia Colman) who has
watched The Sound Of Music one too many times.
Hearing that Aunt Lucy is lost somewhere in the Amazon Jungle the family
hire a boat skippered by Hunter Gabot and his daughter Gina (Antonio
Banderas and Carla Tous) and head off up the Amazon River in search of her.
Needless to say things don’t go as planned as Paddington and the Browns end
up caught in river rapids, wrestling with giant spiders and all sorts of
other dangers that the jungle can throw at them.
Director Dougal Wilson, in his feature debut, keeps the story moving along
at a breakneck pace, one minute Paddington is in a raging torrent of a
river the next he’s high in the Andes at a lost Inca city.
All the cast are great but Colman and Banderas just about manage to steal
Paddington’s thunder as they do their best to steal about every scene their
in. Returning cast members’ from the previous two films don’t fare as well
and are limited to one short scene at the beginning.
Paddington in Peru might not be as good as Paddington 2 but it’s still
wholly enjoyable piece of family entertainment that is guaranteed to melt
the hardest of hearts.
And a word of advice. Don’t rush out of the cinema as soon as the titles
start because if you do you’ll miss a mid-credit and end-credit scene
that’s possibly the best part of, what is, a wonderful film.
