Paddington 2 is such a sweet, cheerful, moving, humorous, adventurous, creative, all around enjoyable treat. It and its predecessor are ideal examples of good, wholesome family films both children and adults can thoroughly enjoy. The sequel’s plot begins with Paddington (Ben Whishaw) getting various jobs so he can buy a special present for his Aunt Lucy’s (Imelda Staunton) 100th birthday. Unfortunately, the present he desires is stolen and Paddington framed for the crime. Paddington gets sent to jail while his adoptive family the Browns—Henry (Hugh Bonneville), his wife Mary (Sally Hawkins), their son Jonathan (Samuel Joslin), their daughter Judy (Madeleine Harris) and their housekeeper Mrs. Bird (Julie Walters)—try to prove his innocence and discover the real culprit.
Paddington is a character I wish existed in real life. An incredibly good-natured, benevolent bear that makes his neighborhood a better place and can transform even a hardened prison into a magical, happy place where the warden reads bedtime stories to the prisoners. As with its predecessor, Paddington 2 contains plenty of slapstick antics from the bear involving his jobs and time in prison. There is an old-fashioned innocence and charm to these scenes; they’re cute and silly without resorting to crass humor and vulgarity unlike most modern adaptations to classic stories. The film’s comedy is a gradual buildup of giggles, eventually leading to pure mirth by its finale. Two jokes that had me in stitches involve a guard believing the antagonist to be an “unusually attractive nun” and a subtle newspaper heading reading “’Get Out of Jail Free Card Not Legally Binding’ Says Judge”.
Paddington 2 brings back most of its original talent in addition to a few new, welcomed faces. Brendan Gleeson is great as the scary prison cook Knuckles (with an N) who Paddington befriends, and Hugh Grant is a bundle of laughs as the film’s theatrically quirky antagonist. Like Totoro, Winnie the Pooh and Mary Poppins, Paddington is a character of magical innocence—making the world a better place one marmalade sandwich at a time. Paddington 2, just like its predecessor (or perhaps a little better), is a rare breed of family film. I left the theaters with the biggest grin on my face, having had a delightfully sweet time. If there is a Paddington 3 made, and I certainly hope there is, you can bet I’ll be enthusiastically going to support it.
