Frankly, Paddington director Paul King had me as the grainy Pathe-esqe newsreel of Montgomery Clyde unwound on the screen to show us Darkest Peru. The tone set in those first few moments, the timepiece and “traveler’s piano”, with all The Mighty Boosh and Bunny and the Bull sensibilities, filled me with a sense of warmth that only increased as our hero makes his appearances, survives the PG-rating adorning earthquake and is sent to London. From the moment our bear arrives at the foot of his statue in the station who’s name he is given, I felt cuddled up with my old bear, I felt like I was a child again. I’m not going to go on more, but this is a truly wonderful film, made better that I got to see it with my family, Father only talked into going by his Granddaughter, but that is what they are for. Beautifully shot with imaginative visuals that take you deeper into the postcard London that we should have, but as Paddington experiences, we’ve lost with the day to day grind of the city. The visual jokes and nods to a huge range of films, pale to seeing Michael Bond raising a glass of wine to his bear as he speeds off to the Brown’s home and the home he dreams of. It makes you feel young again and to that fact, I hand this review over to my Daughter, coughing from the dust of my Paddington, given to my mother in 1973. It is only right that given how this film made me feel, someone of that nearer that age (Ellie is nearly 12 now… She promised she’d stay 8 too…) should have the final say.
A happy 12 year old with a 43 year old bear.
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““That was incredibly rude Mr Brown” and “Look at these beautiful wooden buttons and these sandwich compartments are a wonderful idea!” by far have to me my two favorite Paddington quotes from the movie! Although I didn’t get ANY of the movie references (they had to be explained to me afterwards) they were a very clever idea and it really makes the audience smile (it made my dad smile). In this movie they did a great job with the actors/actresses as you knew who they were and it made the film that bit more enjoyable. There were moments when the whole cinema felt the same way; weather it was laughing or gasping. The PG rating was defiantly appropriate as I know there were moments where I knew my 6 year old sister would almost be in tears! Overall I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome of this movie, as it was a lot less predictable as I thought it would be. It was a fun movie that the whole family can enjoy and I completely recommend this movie!”
How can I compete with that? Needless to say Paddington is wonderful and easily one of the best a round films I’ve seen this year. Anything that makes you want to cuddle up with a bear again is rather perfect in my book.
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