A heartwarming, fuzzy British film for all of the family.
Director: Paul King
Screenwriter: Paul King
Producer: David Heywood
Cast: Ben Whishaw, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Peter Capaldi, Nicole Kidman, Madeline Harris, Samuel Joslin, Julie Walters.
Rating: PG
Running time: 95 mins
Launched by a much-loved children’s book, ‘A Bear Called Paddington’ (1958) by Michael Bond, which spawned yet more books, a bunch of TV series and even more types of merchandising, Paddington Bear is not a brand that has ever been forgotten despite the many appealing toys, books and films for today’s younger generation. The original stories’ marmalade-flavoured, quintessentially British tone of voice and the orphan’s accidental, exciting adventures may not sound like they could make a whole feature film – but they do and what’s more, they do so brilliantly.
In this origin-style story we are taken back to the darkest depths of Peru, where a trepid, British explorer (Tim Downie) equipped with a red bush hat and a suitcase full of marmalade embarks on a mission to investigate animals, but amidst his forest adventure he has a fateful encounter with a bear duo, who he names Lucy and Pastuzo (voiced by Imelda Staunton and Michael Gambon, respectively). Having created a bond with the bountiful bears, the explorer finds himself admiring their intelligence and tells them all about a certain city called London before leaving behind a significant, red explorers hat…
Fast forward several years and the elderly bears have adopted and raised their orphaned nephew and after a tragedy besieges them,the young bear (voiced by Ben Whishaw) has no choice but to find a new home in present-day London. Remembering all the the wonderful things he had heard about the city and its people, he embarks on his long boat journey with his emergency marmalade sandwich inside his Uncle’s red hat and with a trunk full of his all-important marmalade.
Upon arrival, London is not how it seemed for the disappointed and crestfallen young grizzly, who discovers the locals are not friendly and inviting as advertised on the propaganda-style voicing on the gramophone records that the explorer left behind.
At Paddington Station, the young bear cub approaches people with his brown tag around his neck requesting ‘Please give this bear a home.’ The odds looked stacked against him after a long, tiresome day of rejections, but upon the platform, the admirable and brave young bear catches the attention of the benevolent Mrs Brown (Sally Hawkins). She is a mother and children’s book illustrator with a hipster-style persona who insists on helping out the lonely traveller – whom she renames Paddington – despite the objections of her uptight, risk analyst husband Mr Brown (Hugh Bonneville) and their children – “I’m embarrassed by everything” teenager, Judy played by Madeleine Harris and an adventurous, inquisitive son, Jonathan who has the capacity to make great inventions (Samuel Joslin).
Paddington provides the usual accidental dramas and of course he wins the heart of the Brown’s, but there is one person who is determined to ruin that: a cold, calculated, stiletto-heeled taxidermist (Nicole Kidman) from the Natural History Museum, who’s determined to stuff the bear and add him to her collection.
Paddington is so beautifully brought to life, with an impressive use of CGI – every strand of fur, every fleck is wonderfully displayed in each frame and the extraordinary attention to detail is outstanding. The quintessentially British persona is given to Paddington with his duffel coat and red wellingtons and of course he has the well-mannered, Received Pronunciation one has come to expect from the character, voiced perfectly by Ben Whishaw.
No attention to detail was spared by both the producer, David Heyman and the writer/director Paul King whose script is humorous for both adults and children and swallows you up so effortlessly on the hilarious adventures of this popular bear, capturing his spirit so perfectly, whilst tugging on the heart strings. Having been adapted from books and a TV series, Heyman and King deliver a masterclass in how to make a feature length adaptation successfully and it’s hard to imagine why nobody has done so before.
Thanks to the excellent casting, children and adults will both enjoy the comical scenes, which will certainly provide giggles aplenty. Hugh Bonneville and the rest of the Brown family are utterly believable, modern and enchanting. Julie Walters, who plays Mrs Bird, an elderly relative of the family certainly steals the scenes and delivers memorable, comical-to-the-core moments.
Fundamentally, the final product is emotional, entertaining, moralistic and hilariously funny, having efficiently turned a story set in the 1950’s/1960’s into modern time so well. The quintessentially British film will entertain the whole family over Christmas and the audience will fall in love with the enchanting, innocent bear all over again.
In 2013, children all wanted a toy from Disney’s Frozen, this year, everyone will be wanting a Paddington. If only we could have the real thing!
Verdict
