When I was a wee sprog, I read a few Paddington books and
enjoyed the adventures of the small bear from darkest Peru. I also
hadrather a soft spot for the creatively made children’s TV series, where paper
cut outs were animated to surprisingly good effect, and my mind will never
forget next door grump Mr Curry’s shouts of ‘BEAR!’ whenever Paddington mucked
things up. These are treasured memories, people, and I crossed fingers that the
new film version wouldn’t trample all over them.
Well fear not, as ‘Paddington’ is one of the best family
friendly films I’ve ever seen, full of genuinely hilarious and touching
moments. The backstory of the bear himself is handled sensitively, with the
animation of Paddington (un-named until he arrives at a certain railway
station) and his Aunt & Uncle beautifully done. His adoption by the Brown
family isn’t cut and dried, as grumpy risk assessor Mr Brown (Hugh Bonneville)
want’s to hand him over to ‘The Authorities’, which is never a Good Thing.
It’s Mr Brown that provides the core of the film’s emotional
heart, as he takes the same journey as Mr Banks in ‘Mary Poppins’, learning to
love his family for who they are, not what he wants them to be, and to
appreciate that having a bear in his life isn’t a bad thing, no matter how many
times said bear accidentally nearly burns down the house, or floods the house
etc etc. The rest of the family are very well sketched out and played, notably
the old Scottish housekeeper Mrs Bird, played by a reliably on form Julie
Walters.
The only slight downside, for me anyway, is the need to add
an evil villain to the plot. Nicole Kidman is Millicent, who basically wants to
capture and stuff poor old Paddington. Her reasons for doing so neatly tie her
in to the story, but I would have been happier if the film was simply about
Paddington, the Browns and 90 minutes of mishaps. Nothing wrong with Kidman’s
performance or indeed the plot itself, I just felt it wasn’t needed in any way,
shape or form.
The best thing about the film is, rightly enough, Paddington
himself. The personality, voice (from Ben Wishaw) and animation are faultless,
and when he gets into a few little misadventures the comedy is fast and
furious. A little bit of bother with a sellotape dispenser is worthy of Chaplin
himself, and an escapade with a London
bus brings to mind Norman Wisdom or even Frank Spencer at their best. His gradually
acclimatisation to London
life is handled well, as is his acceptance as part of the Brown family. The other
highlight is some amazingly creative direction from Paul King, who uses several
visual tricks that bring to mind Peter Howett’s imaginative ways back in the
90s. You may not have heard of him, but I have a feeling he is set for big
things.
Absolutely stuffed full of jokes for young and old, smart
and stupid, ‘Paddington’ is a film that all the family can enjoy. There has
been a bit of a palaver over the PG rating, and to be honest it is definitely a
case of the certification board being too overprotective of the young uns. There
is nothing too upsetting here, or anything that impressionable minds are likely
to copy. There is one, beautiful moment of peril that occurs in silence that
had many in the cinema drawing in a concerned breath, but that’s about it, and
it is brilliant to hear the reactions of the kids (and adults) to it. Very
highly recommended, this will delight audiences for years to come.
Official trailer:
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