Film review: Paddington 2

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Published on Sunday, 29 October 2017 16:38
Last Updated on 06 November 2017
Monica Costa
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Paddington 2 is without a doubt the perfect family comedy! In fact the best of 2017. It is really hard to find bad films these days and Paddington 2 is a real treat for children and parents alike.

 


The story

The much-anticipated sequel to the worldwide hit family film finds Paddington happily settled with the Brown family in Windsor Gardens, where he has become a popular member of the community, spreading joy and marmalade wherever he goes. While searching for the perfect present for his beloved Aunt Lucy’s hundredth birthday, Paddington spots a unique pop-up book in Mr. Gruber’s antique shop, and embarks upon a series of odd jobs to buy it. But when the book is stolen, it’s up to Paddington and the Browns to unmask the thief…

Paddington 2 is produced by multi award-winning David Heyman (producer of all eight of the HARRY POTTER films, GRAVITY, THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS, FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM). Another masterpiece by BAFTA nominated director Paul King (PADDINGTON, COME FLY WITH ME, THE MIGHTY BOOSH) who has also written the screenplay together with Simon Farnaby (PADDINGTON, YONDERLAND and MINDHORN).

paddington-2-film

The cast

 

As in the first movie, Paddington 2 movie sees Hugh Grant and Brendan Gleeson join the all-star returning cast of Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Peter Capaldi, Madeleine Harris and Samuel Joslin with Ben Whishaw as the voice of Paddington and Imelda Staunton as Aunt Lucy.

 

Hugh Grant’s villainous character and Windsor Gardens’ local celebrity, PHOENIX BUCHANAN, is a vain, charming acting legend whose star has fallen somewhat in recent years.  When Hugh Grant (a Golden Globe and BAFTA winner) is in a movie we are guaranteed a bit of classic British humour. My all time Hugh Grant movie has to be Four Weddings and a Funeral, although many would say he is best known for his memorable performances in films like LOVE ACTUALLY and ABOUT A BOY, and most recently for the critically acclaimed Stephen Frears’ comedy drama FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS opposite Meryl Streep.

 

Brendan Gleeson plays “KNUCKLES” MCGINTY, a notorious safe-cracker and legendary strongman who becomes an unexpected new ally for Paddington.  Gleeson received an Emmy award for his portrayal of ‘Winston Churchill’ in HBO’s ‘INTO THE STORM’, and a Golden Globe nomination for IN BRUGES. Other recent credits include the HARRY POTTER series, EDGE OF TOMORROW and CALVARY. Upcoming features include Ben Affleck’s LIVE BY NIGHT, ASSASSIN’S CREED, ALONE IN BERLIN opposite Diane Keaton and TRESPASS AGAINST US opposite Michael Fassbender.

The trailer 

The verdict 

 
Paddington 2 is the best family comedy of 2017 simply because it has all the ingredients of a film that can be enjoyed by the whole family: it is funny – a gag a minute!, there’s no violence, no swearwords (not even in the prison scenes), no obscenity of any kind, the story is funny and sweet. I cannot honestly find anything I did not like about Paddington 2. It’s not just that but this sequel is actually better than the first movie. This is quite rare. Usually sequels are made to milk the success of the first film, but in this case this story is a standalone comedy, which is destined to surpass its predecessor at the box office.

 

I enjoyed Hugh Grant’s performance as the villain, an actor who is breaking bad to steal a book containing a secret treasure map which would save his reputation. It is a different Hugh Grant, I’d dare say more decadent but funnier and nastier at the same time.

 

Hugh Bonneville was superb as usual with his wit. My favourite scene of all was when he broke into Hugh Grant’s house in his PJ. I had tears in my eyes and could not stop laughing.

 

The prisoners were all minor characters but hilarious. Each one of them had a distinct and memorable personality with unpredictable lines. Every scene in this movie could be taken out of the context and seen as a standalone gag. Absolutely brilliant!
 

Paddington

 

The child reporters from our kids’ club said that they liked the fact that Paddington is going through an adventure to find the person responsible of a famous original book’s theft for which the kind bear was unfairly sent to prison. They said that they gave a 9/10 Star rating rather than 10/10 because they like other movies such as Star Wars even more. It’s not a bad score anyway but the mums were more generous and seemed to enjoy this comedy a lot. Family films these days tend to equally please children and parents.
 

London Mums’ rating: 10/10

Kids’ rating: 9/10

Everyone should have a Paddington in their lives 🙂

PADDINGTON 2 is released in UK cinemas on 10 November 2017.

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For more Paddington articles check these links:

For fans of Simon Farnaby and the Horrible Histories’ gang, watch this super funny interview: 

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