Paddington in Peru (Movie)

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    Why Everyone Is Still Talking About ‘Paddington 2’

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    With the third movie now in theaters, let’s look at how the 2018 film became a sleeper hit, thanks to Hugh Grant’s villain and its showstopping end credits.“Paddington 2 is the greatest film ever made,” one user posted on X in 2022.This tweet was not ironic.In the seven years since its release in January 2018, the film about a marmalade-loving bear’s quest to find the perfect gift for his beloved aunt has become an internet phenomenon, spawning memes, think pieces and an endorsement from Nicolas Cage. For a time, it was the best-reviewed film ever on the aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.“A very eclectic group of people respond to it in the way that they do,” David Heyman, a producer on “Paddington 2” and its 2015 predecessor, “Paddington,” said in a recent phone conversation from his home in London. The Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, for example, confessed to Heyman he was a fan.Now with the third feature-length installment in the franchise, “Paddington in Peru,” in theaters — and already having passed the $100 million milestone at the international box office — it is hard to imagine that when “Paddington 2” first arrived in theaters stateside, it was only a modest box office success. Since its DVD and streaming releases, a devoted community of online fans has sprung up around it, evangelizing about the outsider bear who brought joy to their lives.“There’s humor in it for adults; there’s humor for children,” said Heyman, who grew up reading the Paddington books, written by the British author Michael Bond. “It never feels patronizing or like it’s talking down to its audience. It has a big, beating heart.”All three films are based on the children’s books about the duffle-coated, hard-staring bear, first published in 1958. In the first movie, Paddington emigrates from Peru to London in a story inspired by the World War II rescue operation that brought nearly 10,000 children from Nazi-occupied Europe to England. The second film, directed by Paul King, who wrote the script with Simon Farnaby, is an action adventure with stunning set sequences, following Paddington through a court trial, a prison escape and a daring pursuit by train.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Ben Whishaw, as Paddington Once More, Is Here to Make You Feel Better

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      With “Paddington in Peru,” the British actor voices the beloved bear for the third time. His calming charm remains the franchise’s calling card.Paddington was not part of my childhood. I was a Muppet kid, and Fozzie was my comfort bear of choice.Instead, Paddington came to me as an adult. In 2015, an exceedingly polite, marmalade-slurping fellow in a floppy felt hat and blue duffel coat arrived in theaters and offered an uplifting story about tolerance and pluck. Three years later, the euphorically reviewed “Paddington 2” delivered a reassuring — calming — message about the ugly chaos of modern life: Keep believing in goodness. It’s still out there.So when I recently had the opportunity to talk to Paddington himself, I couldn’t help but turn the interview into a therapy session.It wasn’t actually Paddington, of course. I was on a video call with the British actor Ben Whishaw. He voices Paddington in the PG-rated franchise, the third installment in which, “Paddington in Peru,” arrives in theaters in the United States and Canada on Friday. Our chat was supposed to be about an imaginary world where optimistic bears carry umbrellas and tuck sandwiches under their hats. On the day we spoke, however, my mind was consumed by the real world — the Los Angeles fires, the turmoil of a changing presidential administration, my mother needing heart surgery.Paddington! Say it’s all going to be OK!“I understand,” Whishaw said gently, sounding identical to Paddington in every syllable. “You feel like nothing is stable anymore.”Nicole Kidman with the title character in the first “Paddington” movie.Weinstein CompanyWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Paddington in Peru’ Review: Homeward Bound

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      The genial bear embarks on an Amazonian journey of self discovery in this movie, which cannot measure up to “Paddington 2” despite its charms.It’s rare for a sequel to outshine its original, and there’s hardly a case that comes to mind quicker than “Paddington,” the live-action franchise about a clumsy, gentlemanly bear from Peru who was brought up in London. Based on Michael Bond’s books, the original movie and especially the sequel stand out for their appeal to all ages — from the children toward whom they’re geared to the abundance of adults who relish their sincerity, humanity and flair.“Paddington in Peru,” an amiable effort to continue the trend, moves its star into the action-adventure genre. The movie finds Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw) on a safari through the Amazon jungle of his youth to rescue his aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton), who has mysteriously gone missing from her retirement home.If “Paddington” hinges on blundering and “Paddington 2” on relentless civility, the third stages a more personal journey of self discovery. It’s a somewhat rote exercise in soul-searching, and the script lacks subtlety. (At one point, a character actually says, “you have found yourself.”) But the experience is still a worthy one for our furry leading man. Finally, Paddington graduates from nuisance to pathfinder, from struggling to fit in to forging his own identity.The movie begins by catching us up with the Brown family in their picturesque townhouse in London. The kids — now adolescents — have gained independence, and Mrs. Brown (Emily Mortimer, taking over from Sally Hawkins) is missing the days when the fivesome would spend time as a family. So, when Paddington learns that Lucy is in trouble, Mrs. Brown jumps at the opportunity for some vacation bonding and ushers her family into a Peruvian rescue mission.In his feature debut, the director, Dougal Wilson, nods to the adults in the room by taking the straightforward story and packing it with cinematic references. Early on, there’s a singalong where the retirement home’s Reverend Mother (Olivia Colman) belts to the hills with the sound of music. Later, action scenes sponge ideas from Buster Keaton and Indiana Jones. And among the ensemble, the intrepid Hunter Cabot (Antonio Banderas) plays a local river guide whose support of the Browns is tainted by an ulterior motive.Watching Hunter’s schemes unfold, viewers can appreciate the central challenge facing “Paddington in Peru.” How do you measure up to “Paddington 2” when much of its magic came from Hugh Grant, who’s nowhere to be found? Instead, the filmmakers call on Colman and Banderas to fill the void, and although the actors commit with manic enthusiasm, their goofing can’t conjure what came before. Like chivalry from a genial bear, it’s a tough act to follow.Paddington in PeruRated PG. Running time: 1 hour 46 minutes. In theaters. More

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      Grieving With Paddington

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      A newly mourning daughter finds an unexpected companion in the beloved films, whose star, a little bear, sets an example of how to live with loss.It was on the flight home from my father’s funeral that I first met Paddington. In search of an easy watch to take our minds off things, my partner, David, and I thought a movie about the adventures of a C.G.I. bear in a floppy red hat might do the trick. We went in cold, neither of us having grown up with the children’s books.If you’re familiar with the story, you’ll know this was a naïve, if not poor decision in a time of grief. Almost immediately, Paddington, already an orphan, loses his Uncle Pastuzo in a cataclysmic earthquake in Peru. Soon after, his Aunt Lucy tells him that he must find a new home — alone, without her. Orphaned doubly in the first 10 minutes. I began to cry.Since I was a child, I had been consumed with my father’s needs and longed not to be the parent to my parent. Poor Paddington, forced to navigate the world of adults.The “Paddington” films have acted as a strange benchmark. At 31, I watched the first movie the day after laying my father to rest in a pine box, and the sequel, which was pure delight and offered a reprieve from the darkness of mourning, a few months later. By the time “Paddington in Peru,” the third movie, is released on Feb. 14 in the United States, it will be nearly two years since my father passed. The series has become an unexpected grief tracker; Paddington, my fortuitous companion.My father and I had, at best, a complicated relationship, as he had with just about everyone. An addict with more than a few mental health disorders and, later, dementia, he’d burned bridges with anyone who tried to offer that fleeting, suffocating thing called help.There were years of unemployment, stints in rehab, bouts of disappearances and countless emergency-room visits. I thought I had “pre-grieved,” to borrow a term from Roman Roy, so the ripples of hopelessness and thoughts of what’s the point of it all? that followed his death arrived as a sick aftershock. I was emptied.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More