Movie Review: Paddington (2014)

Like I suppose anybody, I’ve heard a lot about the Paddington movies. Yes, I’ve heard the second one is better. But having finally seen the first one, that’s almost hard to believe, because this is an incredibly entertaining family film. We follow a small talking bear as he goes from Peru to London, where he hopes to find an explorer who once told his family that they’d always be welcome.

He ends up finding a family of four, who take him in and name him after the train station they found him at.

I really like how they handle the family here. Each member of the family has different feelings towards Paddington. The mother (Sally Hawkins) is clearly the most welcoming, and the father (Hugh Bonneville) is the most against it. Nothing revolutionary there. That kind of dynamic is done in a lot of films like this. But what I liked is that even though they have kids, the most time spent on Paddington’s relationship with the family is with the two parents.

And it’s difficult to overstate just how charming Paddington is.

He’s an incredibly likable presence due to his constant positive attitude and the warm voice work of Ben Whishaw.

Naturally, there’s some conflict, with Nicole Kidman (the daughter of the explorer) trying to capture him. And I like that there’s some explanation here. Apparently her father was supposed to have done this, but since he didn’t, he was shunned from the scientific community, and while he apparently didn’t have an issue with this, his daughter did.

She’s over the top but perfectly acceptable for a film like this. She grounds the film with just enough stakes and conflict for what’s an entirely fun and enjoyable family adventure.

Rating: 8/10