As romantic love is in the air for Valentine’s Day this month, so is the time for family love. It has been about ten years since Paddington (Ben Whishaw) first arrived at Paddington Station in London from darkest Peru. Paddington In Peru sees Paddington returning home to darkest Peru to visit his beloved Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) after receiving a letter from the home for retired bears in Peru. The letter informs him that Aunt Lucy deeply misses him and is acting strangely.
Paddington and the Brown family decide to go to Peru to visit her. The Browns arrive in Peru and learn from the Reverend Mother (Olivia Colman) that Aunt Lucy is missing in the jungle, leaving behind only her glasses and bracelet. Paddington discovers a map in Aunt Lucy’s cabin that directs them to begin their search at Rumi Rock. Even Mrs. Bird joined in on the trip across the ocean, but she stayed back with Reverend Mother at the home for retired bears.
Paddington In Peru explores many themes of understanding what family means and the importance of taking risks. These are common threads across the previous two movies, but the former theme still finds a way to depict itself differently through the relationship between newcomers Antonio Banderas’ Hunter Cabot and Carla Tous as his daughter, Gina Cabot.
“Paddington in Peru is a nonstop, fun ride overall.”
Carla revealed that the Cabot family suffers from a peculiar affliction known as “gold madness.” Cabots are cursed to see the ghosts of their ancestors, who urge them to seek El Dorado, the legendary treasure city. Carla does not have it, but her dad does. From an acting standpoint, it is funny to see Banderas play multiple roles of Hunter’s ancestors. However, it does not serve the story in any effective way that advances the central characters of the franchise: Paddington and the Brown family.
The other problem with gold madness was the fact that it did not have a payoff. The solution was too simple and was forced to be resolved by pressing external factors. I did not feel confident that children would understand that mental disorders could be solved in the simple way shown. Family love could have healing effects, but there needed to be something more to solve an issue like this one.
Paddington 2 was great for its villain, Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant), who also had a mental disorder. The concept of characters with mental disorders across movies is rehashed in this film, but it creates a fictional disorder that derails the adventure in weird ways more than meaningful ways. Even Nicole Kidman’s Millicent Clyde had poor mental health issues.
“At the end of the day, Paddington in Peru delivers one hour and 46 minutes of pure entertainment and ties up the trilogy with a nice ribbon.”
The most off-putting part of Paddington In Peru is the musical portion performed by Colman near the beginning when Paddington and his UK family are flying to Peru. The previous films included calypso music for scene transitions, while this one added a sing-along part for younger audiences. It was jarring because this did not fit the same structure and general vibe of the other two films.
The greatness of the Paddington films lies in their blend of darker adult themes with family values and life lessons. This essence from the other two films was lost in this third installment. In the first Paddington film, it’s surprising when Henry and Mary Brown first encounter Paddington at the train station because they treat him, a talking bear as if he were human. The premise of the second film is even more intriguing since Paddington went to jail. This is the charm of the last two films: not treating him as an animal.
The visual effects and cinematography held their own compared to the previous films. This is the film’s saving grace because the VFX shots in close-ups of Paddington are always so bold. It is tough to animate a humanoid bear performing all kinds of actions, but it is even tougher when he is the protagonist and appears in most shots.
As for the cinematography and shot selection, they worked seamlessly with the visual effects. The river and boat scenes were among the most entertaining in Paddington in Peru because they creatively show the boat navigating the rapids. The chaos that ensued on the boat was even craftier, especially when Paddington tried to steer.
Paddington in Peru is a nonstop, fun ride overall. It maintains the main themes of the previous films while resolving the mysteries of Paddington’s childhood and origins. The visual effects also hold up as well as they did 10 years ago.
Despite the highs, the lows were particularly noticeable. The additional musical scene did not flow naturally within Paddington In Peru and felt more geared toward kids than a general audience. The twist near the end was predictable, and its messaging was unclear. At the end of the day, Paddington in Peru delivers one hour and 46 minutes of pure entertainment and ties up the trilogy with a nice ribbon.
