If you are like me you will be asking yourself if Paddington 2 is as good as all the hype surrounding it. I have heard nothing but 100% rave reviews and people saying that it was even better than the first. So what was Paddington 2 really like? We went along to a special screening to find out.
Paddington 2 The Story
Paddington 2 begins many bear years ago. Here we discover that Aunt Lucy and Uncle Pastuzo are about to embark on an exciting adventure to London. But just before they are about to set off Paddington comes into their lives and Aunt Lucy says that they must stay and look after him. Fast forward to the present day and Aunt Lucy is about to celebrate her 100th birthday. With Uncle Pastuzo no long being around Paddington feels that it is up to him to make sure Aunt Lucy has a special day. When he finds the perfect present (a pop-up book of London, which does look very impressive) but discovers it is very expensive he is not put off. Instead he sets about getting a job to pay for it. Unfortunately for well-meaning Paddington this isn’t as easy as it sounds and things go wrong for him: A lot. When someone else learns of its (the gift) existence they want it for themselves, but are not prepared to work hard for it like Paddington. This sets off a catastrophic chain of events that lead poor well-meaning Paddington from one crisis to another. Will Paddington and The Browns be able to sort it all out?
Paddington 2 The Review
Paddington 2 is a wonderful tribute to Michael Bond, the author of the original books who sadly died in June of this year. I particularly love how the film captured Michael’s love for Paddington; a special little bear who means well and is able to see the good in everybody. This also facilitates the message that doing the right thing will always triumph in the end. Again keeping Paddington true to his origins there are lots of fantastic nods to London, with many iconic features both in the pop-up book and during the film itself. Even those to yester-year things like those red phone boxes (it is quite nice that Paddington wasn’t given a mobile phone though really). It even reminded us of places in London that we have still yet to visit!
Of course there is a fantastic cast but Hugh Grant gives an outstanding performance of the villain we love to hate: stealing the limelight for the entire film. I am particularly impressed with his Hercule Poirot impression to say the very least! There are many big names you will recognise as well as some of those you may end up calling out about (such as Brendan Gleeson – Harry Potter’s Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody and Maggie Steed (Joyce Murray in Eastenders).
As you can come to expect from Paddington it is a film that will make you laugh (I was even loudly chuckling to parts that hadn’t even happened yet that I knew were coming!) and it may make you cry (I even managed to hold back the tears to one part but the scenes near the end are just all too much!). My whole family loved this film and agree with all previous reviews saying it is amazing and even better than the first.
See also Paddington 2 Craft for Kids
We were invited to a Premier Screening of Paddington 2 but all opinions are honest and my own