The loveable marmalade sandwich loving bear is back. This time, Paddington
has found a home with the Brown family, and spends his days with new found
friends throughout London. Eager to find the “perfect gift” for his Aunt
Lucy’s 100th birthday, Paddington takes on several odd jobs in hopes of
purchasing a pop-up book of London that is for sale at an antique shop.
Little does Paddington know, this pop-up book carries the clues to a
treasure chest.
Narcissistic, has been actor Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant)
learns that said pop-up in fact does exist, he puts his acting skills to
use and transforms himself into various characters to steal it. Witness to
the burglary, Paddington pursues the thief, but ends up being blamed for
the crime and gets put in prison. The Brown family, along with all of
Paddington’s closest friends try to clear Paddington’s name by uncovering
all the clues to get the book back before Buchanan locates the treasure.
It’s safe to say a sequel was expected after a successful first run. This
film definitely follows the template of the first, with the same amount of
exuberance, curiosity, and laughter.
You can’t help but fall in love with
Paddington. I must admit, Hugh Grant stole the show. His villainous
attempt at portraying 12 different characters was phenomenal. You can tell
he was having a fun time with his characters. A delightful, sweet movie
the whole family will enjoy that mainly focuses on the importance of being
kind and with kindness friends and help are always there. Nice guys always
finish first!
4 stars out of 5
Second Review by Jennifer Fiduccia
Paddington 2 brings back Ben Whishaw as Paddington, Hugh Bonneville as Henry Brown, Sally Hawkins as Mary Brown, Julie Walters as Mrs. Bird, Jim Broadbent as Mr. Gruber, Peter Capaldi as Mr. Curry, Madeleine Harris as Judy Brown, Samuel Joslin as Jonathan Brown, and Imelda Staunton as Aunt Lucy. Paddington 2 introduces Hugh Grant as Phoenix Buchanan, and Brendan Gleeson as “Knuckles” McGinty
I don’t always love sequels, but this one was really great.
Paddington has settled in nicely at his home with the Browns, and the entire neighborhood (with the exception of one grumpy neighbor), has come to love him.
Paddington has his heart set on a birthday gift to send to his Aunt Lucy, and must begin a job to be able to afford to buy it for her.
In the meantime, the nefarious and washed up actor Phoenix Buchanan discovers that the book may hold the key to a fabled treasure, and Buchanan sets out to steal the book, while firmly placing Paddington in the path of the law to take the blame for the theft.
Armed with his unerring gifts of personal integrity, faith in his family and the belief in the general goodness of (most of) the rest of humankind, not to mention an insistence for having good manners, Paddington sets out to clear his name. First, however, he must win over the inmates at the prison. He wins over the hardest of the bunch, Knuckles McGinty, with his Aunt Lucy’s recipe for marmalade, and the rest of the prisoners, as well as the warden and guards, are quickly won over as well.
Meanwhile the Brown family is also working tirelessly to try to clear Paddington’s name. Sadly, they miss a visit and Paddingtons hopes falter, causing him to feel the need to take matters into his own hands and participate in a prison break hoping to be able to bring the real culprit to light.
The movie was sweet, and thoughtful, colorful and musical, and the whole family really truly enjoyed it. It had laugh out loud moments, and a few tense anticipatory moments, and a few almost tearful moments.
My 9 year old sons favorite part was the reunion at the end, and he said it shows how important family is. I enjoyed the entire film and there wasn’t one part that I could say I didn’t like.
I would give this movie 5 out of 5 stars for family fun and enjoyment.
