PADDINGTON IN PERU (2025)

Genre: Adventure/Family
Director: Dougal Wilson
Cast: Ben Whishaw, Hugh Bonnevile, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Imedla Staunton, Carla Tous, Olivia Colman, Antonio Banderas 
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Sony Pictures
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 16 January 2025

Synopsis: Full of Paddington’s signature blend of wit, charm, and laugh-out-loud humor, Paddington in Peru finds the beloved, marmalade-loving bear lost in the jungle on an exciting, high-stakes adventure. When Paddington discovers his beloved Aunt Lucy has gone missing from the Home for Retired Bears, he and the Brown family head to the wilds of Peru to look for her with the only clue to her whereabouts; a spot marked on an enigmatic map. Determined to solve the mystery, Paddington embarks on a thrilling quest through the rainforests of the Amazon to find his aunt…and may also uncover one of the world’s most legendary treasures.

Movie Review:

Britain’s most famous Peruvian bear, Paddington returns to the big screen after an absence of nearly eight years. Only this time, a slightly different approach to the London based bear. Instead of downtown London, Paddington is going on an adventure to Peru. Behind the scenes- music video director Dougal Wilson replaces Paul King as the franchise director although the latter retains his story credit while Emily Mortimer replaces Sally Hawkins as Mrs Brown.

Paddington (voice of Ben Whishaw) and the Browns decide to visit his Aunt Lucy in his home country after learning that his aunt misses him. Mrs Brown on the other hand feels it’s a good chance to bond as a whole family before Judy goes to university and thus after touching down in Peru, the whole family decide to hire a boat to a place called Rumi Rock based on an old Aunt Lucy’s map.

The riverboat is manned by a certain captain, Hunter Cabot (Antonio Banderas) and his daughter, Gina (Carla Tous). Unfortunately, Cabot has plans of his own after learning that Paddington possessed a bracelet that could possibly leads him to some ancient treasure.

Paddington in Peru continues the franchise tradition of flawlessly blending CGI into the live-action surroundings. With parts of principle photography taking place in Peru and Columbia, Norwegian cinematographer Erik Wilson ensures the picture is constantly vivid and colours popping out like the Michael Bond’s storybooks. There’s a couple of close-ups that emphasised on Paddington’s fur and we can say that it indeed matches to a real bear. At least on the big screen.

While the first two Paddington movies focused on heavily on the bear’s mishaps and quirkiness, Paddington in Peru goes big. Goes way big like a modern-day Jumanji and Indiana Jones kind of Hollywood adventure. We have first a genuinely chaotic action scene involving the capsizing of the riverboat that provides some visual spectacle and comedy. Then there is a plane crash and some funny chases between Paddington and Hunter. All in all, delivering madcap energy and moments of hilarity making sure children and adults alike are amused and immersed.

The franchise has its typical cartoony villains in the form of A-list celebrities such as Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant in the previous two. In Peru, it’s Zorro aka Antonio Banderas. Obviously not a spoiler if you are familiar with how things work in Paddington. His role as the captain with the ghost of his ancestors constantly haunting him adds to the fun. English actress Olivia Colman is also another standout as a shady Reverend Mother who has her very own “sound of music” moment. Mr Brown (Hugh Bonneville) also has his own brushes with danger as he wrestles with a gigantic spider making him the most memorable onscreen Brown family member in the entire movie.

If you are looking for some intelligent messages about immigration and racism in which author Michael Bond originally meant his works to be then Peru is possibly the least metaphorical of all three. Even the hint of the Brown family being slowly disintegrated because of the children leaving the household turned out to be a forgettable chapter. This outing which took place in the Peruvian jungle is more of Paddington discovering his roots. Factoring in all the wholesome, family friendly gags and fun, it’s still not particularly impressive yet it exudes effortless warmth and blockbuster action.

Movie Rating:

(No one in the right mind will hate the marmalade loving bear delivering moments of peril in Peru in this threequel)

Review by Linus Tee