Director: Paul King
Starring: Ben Whishaw, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Nicole Kidman, Samuel Joslin, Madeleine Harris, Julie Walters, Peter Capaldi, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, Michael Gambon, Simon Farnaby, Matt Lucas
Michael Bond’s novels and subsequent TV show depicting the ever inquisitive bear Paddington have garnered the mass of international following his character now has. Remaking him in 2015 (almost sixty years on from his debut) can only be problematic. Appealing to modern audiences perhaps slightly more atuned with Ted or winning over the doubtful die hard fans seems to be two very different goals.
After a natural disaster destroys his home, a bear (Whishaw) journeys from Darkest Peru to London, where he wishfully expects a warm welcome. Reluctantly, Mr Brown (Bonneville) and his family (Hawkins, Joslin, Harris, Walters) accept him into their madcap home, unaware that a mysterious taxidermist, Millicent (Kidman), is strangely willing to take him off their hands.
The first step to ensuring excellence here was hiring the right people. Harry Potter producer David Heyman elevates this far from low rent productions like Pudsey, which this so easily could have been. Not only his Paddington himself visually fantastic; his whole Peruvian environment is remarkably stunning before he slickly slips into the city streets. Writers Paul King and Hamish McColl fill their script with childish immaturity and adult wisdom in equal measure.
Ben Whishaw, who famously replaced the voice of Colin Firth for the titular role, applies those same qualities into his own performance excellently while Downton’s Hugh Bonneville and Godzilla’s Sally Hawkins poignantly resemble the two halves of Britain today: the xenophobic or the welcoming. Youngsters Sam Joslin and Madeleine Harris don’t greatly impress as the children of the Browns but at least they’re far more likeable than the usual annoying infants occupying family films.
Even the stern Mr Brown is soon won over but the villains of the piece aren’t so easily charmed. New Doctor Who Peter Capaldi inexplicably creepy as the Farage-next-door type Mr Curry. Oscar winner Nicole Kidman shines as the comically cruel but undeniably scary Millicent, who has the twisted and macabre intention of killing and stuffing Paddington and actually poses a half decent twist in the ending.
The aforementioned finale may overly extend the amount of peril that the usual mild mannered past instalments contained but simultaneously gives a defiant emotional gut punch. Still retaining the classic quintessential charm while inserting an uncanny relevance to modern issues. The most iconic refugee of all time triumphs in this potentially timeless update.
8/10
” Long ago, people in England sent their children by train with labels around their necks, so they could be taken care of by complete strangers in the country side where it was safe. They will not have forgotten how to treat strangers.”
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