Premise: A young bear named Paddington (Ben Whishaw) moves to London after his home is destroyed and is adopted by the Brown family (led by Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins) and must adjust to life in a strange new land.
My excitement for Paddington has always been fairly low. This might be partially based on the fact that although I’d been exposed to the character as a child, I never felt very strongly about any of the books or tv shows. Even that small amount of excitement mostly dissipated as soon as I saw the terrible trailer (the international trailer was better, but didn’t knock my socks off). But then I saw this…
For those of you who don’t go on Rotten Tomatoes, that means that 98 percent of critics gave it a positive review. 98 percent. That’s something that any movie would kill for. Hell, that’s higher than any presidential approval rating in United States history. So, it was with some reservations that I went to see Paddington. How was it? Surprisingly really good.
Pros: First, this movie is funny. That may come as a surprise if you’ve seen that trailer with all of Paddington’s antics in the bathroom. Horrible stuff. Except it isn’t in the movie itself. Instead, the physical comedy is actually really fun and gets a lot of laughs. It was fun seeing Paddington trying to adjust to life as a quasi-human. But the dialogue was also charming, showcasing the talents of Whishaw, Bonneville, Hawkins, etc. and giving us a fistful of classic British wit. There weren’t a lot of laugh-out-loud moments, but Paddington almost always put a smile on my face.
Not only is Paddington funny, it’s also endlessly charming. Right from the opening scenes in Peru, you can tell this is gonna be a heartwarming movie, and it delivers. The movie has a lot of soft spots touching on the importance of home and family, and they’re sweet without feeling forced. The characters are also a fun bunch. Whether it’s the Brown family (even the kids!), Paddington’s family in Peru, British veterans Jim Broadbent and Julie Walters, or Paddington himself, these are people that you’ll wish were real, even the stuffy Mr. Brown (played wonderfully by Hugh Bonneville).
Paddington is surprisingly good on many fronts, but I definitely wasn’t expecting it to look this good. Trust me when I say that you’ll definitely want to visit London after seeing this movie.
Cons: If a movie has a villain, they’d better work. Unfortunately, Millicent (Nicole Kidman) doesn’t make for a good villain. A lot of this boils down to her motivation. It’s not revealed until very late in the film, and when she is it doesn’t make a lot of sense. On top of that, she’s just not entertaining. Kidman did fine in the role, but it wasn’t a good role to begin with.
The CGI is usually solid, but there are parts where it’s a bit dodgy. Now, I didn’t expect Paddington to look like Caesar from the Apes films, but there were some clear issues here and there, particularly with the fur texturing.
Verdict: Against all odds, Paddington is very entertaining and a highlight in the usually barren post-Christmas winter season. Definitely one that you should check out if you have young kids, but it has something for every demographic. Hard to believe that a movie that I had such low expectations for could end up being the highest rated movie of 2015.
Score: 8/10