His family ripped apart by natural disaster he’s forced to flee his homeland. Alone, he finds himself relying on the kindness of strangers while trying to escape the clutches of a murderer.
No, I’m not talking about some new Oscar nominated drama, this is the premise for Paddington. Yes, Paddington. You know, the bear from Darkest Peru with the red hat and marmalade fetish? Paddington is directed by Paul King and written by King and Hamish McColl with David Heyman producing. Oddly enough, considering Warner Bros successful partnership with Heyman on Gravity, they chose to pass on this leaving it to StudioCanal to get it to 
our screens. In a way I’m kind of glad of that. Between Heyman’s clear love of the character and the studio taking a chance we have an odd treat on the lead up to Christmas.
For those of you not familiar with Paddington the bear, his story is one echoed by millions of emigrants throughout our history. People who found themselves uprooted and shipped off to places both unfamiliar and seemingly cold. Often times alone and without anyone waiting for them at the other side. Paddington finds himself alone and sitting on a suitcase, in an unfamiliar London that isn’t exactly how he imagined it growing up. It’s here that he meets the Brown family who begrudgingly take him in at the insistence of Mrs Brown (The magical Sally Hawkins) and mayhem ultimately ensues with Millicent Clyde (Kidman) on the hunt for the rarest of bears to add to her collection at the museum.
Paddington is a film packed to bursting with talent. The bear himself is voiced in this by none other than Ben Whishaw, who proves well up to the task of bringing him to life. The characters and casting are stellar. You have everyone from the obsessively controlling Mr Brown (Hugh Bonneville) to Peter Capaldi’s nosey neighbour, to the utterly fantastic Mrs Bird (Julie Walters) and the cold, totally over the top and slightly crazy villain played by Nicole Kidman. Throw a cameo from Matt Lucas and you’ll need to pass me a fan and some rescue remedy.
These days there’s an expectation on children’s films to be entertaining not only for target audiences but also for the adults playing chaperone. Paddington is a gem of a film for this. While a lot of the stronger themes sail by the children there were a number of adults including myself having some really emotional moments. Conor, the nephew for the day, at one point turned to me and said “Where’d Paddington’s family go?” Cue some mumbled reassurances while I turned to the side and tried my best not to break down crying. I failed. I failed so hard.
Paddington is the dark horse of children’s films I think this Christmas. It’s quirky, warm and grounded and really everything I could imagine wanting from a live action Paddington film. That’s not to say that this is a film for everyone. Personally, I found the film might have been more of a PG rating than a G. As difficult as it was to gloss over the fact that Nicole Kidman’s character wants to kill Paddington and stuff him for her display, there are also some moments that the very young might find too upsetting or wouldn’t understand. I’m not talking about Bambi level future life trauma, but there’s some iffy moments.
Overall this is a film filled with all the good things movies are made of. It’s packed with silly fun, danger, some of the most touching cinema moments for me this year and a very strong cast. It does come with all the usual clichés of angsty unhappy teens, strict British father learning to have fun and free spirited mother but they strangely manage pull it off without feeling like a thousand other films. They walk an unsteady tightrope of an entertaining children’s film and while sometimes they waver and fall into some overly lengthy adult dialogue children just aren’t going to get, there’s always a generous comedy balm to follow up.
Not only did I enjoy this film, I may have to borrow another youngster so I can go see it again.
Get out your emotional brollies for Paddington cause the tears and laughter are chucking it down. 8/10
