
The metaphors for immigration and the big cultural melting pot of London are still here and, for those who appreciated them the first time around, they go to some darker and more heartbreaking places as well. All is well until Paddington (Ben Whishaw) spots a pop-up book of London in Mr Gruber’s (Jim Broadbent) shop, vowing to buy it for Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) using money from his window cleaning business.

We pick up with the family right where we left them, Jonathan and Judy now teenagers and Henry Brown (Hugh Bonneville) struggling with a midlife crisis brought on by the promotion of a much younger colleague. This fake, storybook London is such a rich universe with endless supply of new adventures for the Browns. This film, by contrast, can simply get through by playing in the world it’s built for itself, but yet there’s so much more to enjoy here. It’s a pleasure to say that Paddington 2, coming to us after the sunny perspective of a visiting bear and his adoptive family has been proven more and more unpopular in the real world, is as lovely and brilliant as its predecessor.Īs with all origin stories, the first film had a lot to do within the constraints of a family film that had rather a lot to prove to an audience of cynical parents and bored young ‘uns. What’s particularly surprising, though, it just how high its sequel soars.

If you saw 2014’s modern Paddington reboot, then you’ll already know what a delightful surprise it was.
