Film Title: Paddington in Peru
Director: Dougal Wilson
Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Olivia Colman
Genre: Comedy, Family
Release Year: 2025
Rating: 7/10
Paddington in Peru is the third instalment in the story of beloved Paddington the Bear. Throughout the films, our marmalade loving bear has faced many challenges: from being hunted to be stuffed by Millicent in Paddington (2014) and being an immigrant to a new country, to facing challenges of working life and criminality in Paddington 2 (2017). Now in his new adventure, Paddington is headed for the quest to find his dear Aunt Lucy and explore his complex identity as a Peruvian bear and a British citizen.
A few years have passed since the last film about Paddington and a lot has changed in family Brown. Judy (Madeleine Harris) and Jonathan (Samuel Joslin) are now young adults; Judy is a student, and Jonathan has dedicated his life to chilling and strong deodorant. Their parents Mary (Emily Mortimer) and Henry (Hugh Bonneville) also deal with certain changes: Mary longs for the times when family spend their time together and Henry deals with a new American management in his insurance job. Meanwhile Paddington, now a proud holder of a British passport keeps writing Aunt Lucy letters about his days with family Brown. Then he receives a letter from the house for retired bears prompting him to travel to Peru to visit Aunt Lucy. The problem is Aunt Lucy went missing right before Paddington and family Brown arrived.
As they set on their quest to find Aunt Lucy, the Browns are each facing their challenges. Notably, Mr. Brown must overcome his risk aversion, and triple laminated manuals predicting all possible risk, and embrace the risk. Mrs. Brown is working on connecting with her children and bringing the family together. Judy is working on her travel diary and journalistic skills. Jonathan learns that there is more to life than chilling and becomes more proactive. Paddington learns that even though holding multiple identities can be confusing at times it is not a bad thing and that it should be embraced. Another great thing that Paddington in Peru, and the film series in general, does is to allow the villains to develop into good people as they realise that they have been misguided.
The character arcs of the protagonists in Paddington in Peru are very compelling, especially as they present and discuss important themes in a format digestible and understandable by children – the target demographic for the film. A challenge that the production team had to face when it comes to the characters was replacing the original actress for Mrs. Mary Brown – Sally Hawkins – who decided to depart from the film series. However, Emily Mortimer who took on her role, was a good choice as she captures the character of Mary Brown really well.
Film is of course filled with humour, both from the acting style, which is a reminiscent of British children television, situational jokes, for example Reverend Mother (Olivia Colman) showing up in an aeroplane named The Miracle when Mrs. Brown wishes for a miracle to cross a canyon. Not to mention Paddington’s exquisite gentleman manners and awkward humbleness which has charmed the audiences since the original books, through cartoons to current film series.
Aside from that Paddington in Peru has references to other beloved films. Sound of Music (1965) comes to mind when we see Olivia Colman twirling with guitar against Peruvian Andes, Klaus Kinski’s character from Fitzcarraldo (1982) is resurrected with Hunter Cabot’s cream attire and gramophone attached to the front of his small steamboat. Even Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) gets its ten minutes when Paddington and Hunter Cabot run away from a rolling stone in Machu Picchu as they look for entrance to El Dorado.
The plot and characters of Paddington in Peru aside, the film is visually fantastic. Especially the way Paddington the Bear is animated has improved since the last film. His fur moves even more naturally and interacts with its surrounding they way we would expect it too. Also, the way he blends with the real sets and the eye line matching when the characters talk to Paddington match so naturally, it can happen that one will forget that Paddington is computer generated. Then there are the parts of the jungle, the rolling stone and llamas that have been digitally added, they also blend very well with the ambient light of the scenery they are in, without sacrificing the quality of the image and saturation of the colours in the film. Overall, the CGI crew deserves a great praise for their achievements in the field, as Paddington in Peru offers some of the best CGI experience currently available to the audiences.
The only issue I found with the film is the Norwegian dubbing and if you are comfortable with reading subtitles I would recommend catching the film in original English with Norwegian text. In Norwegian dubbing it seemed as if the extremely clear pronunciation was put ahead in the priorities rather than expressing the actual emotions visible on the screen, which can severely impact the experience of the film.
In general, Paddington in Peru, the third film about the furry member of the Brown family is a great film for a family watch or a nostalgia filled evening. It developed well on the characters, providing them with new opportunities for development and self-improvement. It showed the themes of belonging, multiple identities, family and overcoming in a way understandable and fun for children, while presenting references and writing jokes for the older audience to enjoy the movie as well. Paddington in Peru is definitely a worthy addition to the already rich collection of works including Paddington the Bear making him forever relevant to the future and part generations, making him a childhood and nostalgia staple.
Paddington in Peru has Norwegian premiere on January 17th. The first screening in original English with Norwegian subtitles is scheduled for January 18th.
Leave a Reply