‘Paddington in Peru’ Review: Bear-y Fun, but Missing Some Marmalade Magic

The “Paddington” films at their best send viewers through a Rube Goldberg machine of whimsical misadventures and wacky interactions that ultimately teach Paddington Bear — and through him, the rest of us — a lesson about doing good in the complex human world. True to form, the film series’ third installment, “Paddington in Peru,” does just that; but the movie seems to have lost some of the depth and nuance that once elevated the films beyond the mere outcome of their chain reactions.

In the film, the titular Paddington Bear (Ben Whishaw) discovers his beloved Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) has gone missing from her Peruvian bear retirement home, kicking off a quest with the Brown family to go find her. This journey proves to have high stakes, with Paddington’s adventure growing riddled with enigmatic challenges and important life lessons to learn along the way.

Most characters in “Paddington in Peru” only seem to serve one function in the arc of the story — Mr. Brown (Hugh Bonneville) teaches us to embrace calculated risk, while Captain Cabot (Antonio Banderas) demonstrates how greed can get in the way of more important things in life. Olivia Colman subverts this trend with her depiction of the guitar-wielding, suspicion-inciting Reverend Mother — a performance that almost rivals Hugh Grant’s antagonist from the prior film with its intelligent humor and engaging portrayal.

While the Rube Goldberg-esque construction of the film handicaps some of its character development, it proves tremendously effective in world-building. From set to costume design, every visual element is meticulously packed with childlike wonder. An establishing shot early on in the film depicts the Brown family’s house as a dollhouse, showing each character in a cross-section of their rooms and evoking an elusive sense of nostalgia — like how a kid might picture their own childhood home. A scene of the plane flying the Browns to Peru was filmed in a stop-motion style as a toy plane, which conveys a halcyon world where the audience can lose themselves.

The comedy of the film is equally successful, with slapstick scenes of Paddington’s classic misunderstandings — how can a tiny bear getting into a hammock go so wrong so fast? — balancing out the more mature humor of some of the human characters. In that way, the film is perfect for families, as it will successfully serve a wide range of audiences with its humor.

As per usual, the high point of this Paddington film is its gentle-natured spirit and earnest heart, raising profound questions about the nature of home and belonging for the titular bear and the audience alike. Watching Paddington travel to what should feel like his home only to miss his found family serves as a surprisingly nuanced emotional conflict for a kids’ movie. On top of that, the struggle of Mrs. Brown (Emily Mortimer) to reckon with her young adult children leaving the house soon is enough to make any college student tear up in the movie theater.

This film was the first in the series not to be directed by Paul King; Instead, Dougal Wilson makes his feature film directorial debut. Although Wilson successfully conveys the same whimsy and inventive feeling that King brought to the prior films, something is still lacking throughout. Perhaps it’s unfair for audiences to enter the movie with unrealistically heightened expectations given the near-perfect reviews of “Paddington 2” — or perhaps the narrative taking Paddington out of his classic London setting provides a weaker backdrop to the film compared with its predecessors. Regardless, though a few elements of the film fall short of the accomplishments typically achieved by the franchise, Wilson still delivers a heartwarming family film worthy of a trip to the theater.

—Staff writer Stella A. Gilbert can be reached at stella.gilbert@thecrimson.com.