Film Review - Paddington 2 (2017)

Paddington 2 is the sequel to 2014’s Paddington and Ben Wishaw once again voices Paddington Bear as he enters the workforce to raise money for a popup book to send to his Aunt Lucy but when the book goes missing Paddington is sent to jail and now must find a way to clear his name.

Sitting through Paddington 2 one thought entered my mind and that was “SEE THIS IS HOW IT CAN BE DONE!” and by that I mean movie sequel as this one is that rarest of birds a sequel better than the first film in almost every aspect the first film was great but this one does what a great sequel should do which is deepen the character relationships, take advantage of the fact that the first film set everything up and set off right away on a new adventure.

Wishaw deserves a most special credit here for his voice work as Paddington as he brings so much heart, warmth, sincerity and soul to this character that you just cannot help but want to give him a big warm cuddle as you are instantly on his side in whatever he does whether its getting a ride around his neighbourhood or trying to clear his name in prison.

There is also ample back up work by Sally Hawkins, Hugh Bonneville, Julie Walters and Brendan Gleeson and Gleeson is particular is very funny as Knuckles the prison chef and the film itself has some really really funny moments in it that had me laughing a lot out loud throughout the movie.

But the show stealer here is Mr Hugh Grant who plays Phoenix an actor reduced to eating Dog Food in commercials which by the way reminded me of the scene in Red Dwarf where Lister ate the Dog Food in the episode Marooned and he is a fabulous villain here and he is why this sequel is a better film than the first one and I loved that and the villain Nicole Kidman played in it but this one Hugh shamlessly lampoons his British rom com roots and finds a way of being hammy and over the top but also being lots of fun at the same time.

And who knew that this family film series would be one that has great villains in it both of them are clearly defined have a set goal they want to accomplish and for me I had great fun watching them go about that goal and villains in these family films can at times be as important as they are to an action/genre type of film and when they go right in both accounts the films are better for it.

But also the way that Diversity Is handled in this movie as well as the first film is a real treat as it paints a great portrait of Modern London and the diverse streets and neighbourhoods of those that live in them its done in a way that says this is how things are and we’re used to it sometimes stuff like this can go wrong and go wrong very badly but here its done correctly and it paints a great environment for the younger audiences.

And so that was Paddington 2 and please go and see it as its that rare sequel better than the first film in almost every way, 4 and a half out of 5.