Ben Whishaw’s work is important as well, bringing Paddington to life with only his voice. Hugh Grant’s hammy actor-turned-scoundrel is a hilarious villain, and the scene where Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins sneak around his house looking for evidence is a work of admirable silliness - but all three are dead earnest about making their characters believable within the reality established by the movie. You can tell when the performers in a talking-animal movie are phoning it in and when they’re giving it the same legitimacy as their more “important” roles. The key to both films’ success is that King casts committed actors who take their work seriously. (Tattooed across Knuckles’ knuckles: “N-U-C-K” “E-L-‘-S.”) Back in the Browns’ neighborhood, everyone whose life had been improved by Paddington feels his absence. (I’m always pleased when the “one person knows the truth but no one will believe them” phase of the plot is minimized.) While they set out to clear Paddington’s name, the bear himself is helping the prison chef, Knuckles McGinty (Brendan Gleeson), revise the menu to include marmalade and other inmate suggestions. Brown (Sally Hawkins) who figures out that Phoenix Buchanan is the culprit, and her husband (Hugh Bonneville) is quickly convinced as well. Gruber, frames Paddington for the theft, and hustles around town looking for the clues.
A master of disguise who talks to costumed mannequins of Hamlet, Macbeth, etc., in his attic, Phoenix steals the book from Mr. Gruber (Jim Broadbent), the antiques dealer, has a rare pop-up book about the landmarks of London that would be perfect - Aunt Lucy has always wanted to see London - and Paddington takes up odd jobs to raise the money to buy it, supported, as always, by his adoptive family, the Browns.ĭown the street lives Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant), a washed-up stage actor reduced to doing dog food commercials who believes the pop-up book has clues to a hidden treasure, which he needs to finance his career-reviving one-man show. The story concerns Paddington’s efforts to find a birthday present for his dear Aunt Lucy (voice of Imelda Staunton), who lives at the Home for Retired Bears back in Peru.
Politeness and manners win the day every time. Paddington gets sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit - scary! - but he immediately befriends everyone and turns the place into a civilized utopia. When bad or scary things happen, the characters react to them gently, unhysterically, so as not to worry the little ones. “Paddington 2,” with King and the cast returning, is nearly as delightful as its predecessor, with effortless charm, well-choreographed humor, and a magnanimous spirit. Based on Michael Bond’s beloved books (which date back to 1958) and written and directed by Paul King (director of “The Mighty Boosh”), “Paddington” fell into the sweet spot of movies meant for kids that work so well on adults that we suspect they were actually made for us. If you missed “Paddington” three years ago, you missed one of the most thoroughly delightful children’s movies in recent memory, about an anthropomorphic Peruvian bear (voiced by Ben Whishaw) who comes to live with a human family in London.