With "Paddington" now happily ensconced with the "Brown" family, and replete with his own British passport, all is going swimmingly until he gets a letter from distant Peru. The mother superior of the retirement home for bears (Olivia Colman) is concerned that "Aunt Lucy" is losing the plot a bit. Conscious that they are gradually drifting apart, mum "Mary" (Emily Mortimer) decides that what they all need is the excitement of a trip - so off they head to the jungle. That's where they encounter "Capt. Cabot" (Antonio Banderas) who runs a local river boat with his daughter "Gina" (Cala Tous) and who agrees to take them on their cruise. They arrive at their destination only to discover that the elderly bear has gone missing and they are soon amidst some mischievous machinations that might take them on a perilous journey to the famed El Dorado. Thing is, of course, with a legendary treasure to be found, "Paddington" isn't quite sure whom he can trust as the trail leads him deeper and deeper into the wilderness! It's a fun adventure this one but it is a bit slow, the humour isn't so plentiful and the plot is a little derivative with not enough bear and too much of "Jungle Cruise" (2021) meets "Sound of Music" (1965) to it. I thought Banderas and Colman rather hammed it all up a bit and there also wasn't quite the cosiness of the family-led escapades with much less opportunity for Dame Julie Walters to get actively involved. The narrative is all just a bit disjointed without the charm of the two earlier cinema outings for Michael Bond's character. It's still a watchable and enjoyable enough family film, but I am not sure I shall recall it for long. Stick around for the credits - there's a nice wee cameo in there from you know who.

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Paddington in Peru is the first of the trilogy not written and directed by Paul King. King chose not to return and moved on to Wonka instead, but he pitched the idea for the third Paddington film and executive produces. Emily Mortimer also replaces Sally Hawkins as Mrs. Brown while Mr. Curry (Peter Capaldi) doesn’t appear at all. Paddington receives a letter from The Reverend Mother (Olivia Colman) at the home for retired bears that his Aunt Lucy is acting differently and misses him terribly. He makes his way to Peru with the Browns only to discover that Aunt Lucy has gone missing. Now he must endure uncharted territory in the jungles of Peru if he ever wishes to see her again. Meanwhile, the home of the Brown family has changed drastically. Judy (Madeleine Harris) spends her time recording travel vlogs and choosing where she intends to go to college. At the same time, Jonathan (Samuel Joslin) is an inventor who uses his gadgets to assist in his video game-playing laziness. Mary (Mortimer) is already feeling the wrath of empty nest syndrome. At the same time, Henry (Hugh Bonneville) stresses over whether or not he can adapt to the action-oriented demeanor of his new boss. The trip to Peru is seen as one last vacation as a family before everything changes for good. Once in Peru, Paddington discovers a clue that seems to point to Aunt Lucy making her way to a place called Rumi Rock. But Paddington and the Browns will need a boat to get there. Enter Hunter Cabot (Antonio Banderas) and his daughter Gina (Carla Tous). The humor in Paddington in Peru feels like it’s been amped up a bit in comparison to the previous two films. Most of the humor is still physical comedy and is a result of Paddington being clumsy or not understanding his surroundings. But the film makes it a point to showcase the fact that something is fishy with Olivia Colman’s Reverend Mother from the start. It becomes the film’s longest-running gag. Hunter Cabot is haunted by the ghosts of his ancestors. The Cabot bloodline is a greedy bunch and unfortunately, that trait plagues Hunter despite his best efforts. He tries to live by the fact that his daughter is his biggest treasure, but the temptation has always been there and Paddington reawakens something awful in him. Antonio Banderas is essentially Burger Beard from The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water as Hunter Cabot, but with more depth. Banderas portrays five or six different Cabot ancestors including a woman. He is silly and goofy, but he’s also one of the film’s biggest antagonists. With a screenplay by Mark Burton (Paddington 2, Early Man), Jon Foster, and James Lamont (both Foster and Lamont worked on the 2019 CGI animated TV series The Adventures of Paddington) with a screen story by Paul King (director of Paddington 1 & 2), Simon Farnaby (co-writer on all three Paddington films), and Mark Burton, Paddington in Peru can be watched as a standalone adventure or as a third film in a trilogy. There are throwbacks to the previous films (the hard stare, the mid-credits scene being a homage to Paddington’s prison friends, etc), but it doesn’t take away or add anything per se to the main story Paddington in Peru is trying to tell. Someone could start with this film and enjoy it for what it is before seeing the first two films. Paddington in Peru goes in predictable directions, but the film plays off those expectations masterfully. You know where the story is going to go from the start, but when those big moments come you are still invested and you still cry. The Paddington films have never shied away from embodying what heartfelt and touchy-feely truly mean. If your heartstrings are ever in need of a tune-up, a Paddington film will get them humming like new guaranteed. The Paddington films have always embodied an unparalleled sense of wonder and happiness; being content with the smallest things. Paddington in Peru is no different, but there’s an even bigger emphasis on how big the world is outside of our comfort zone and kindness above all else. Paddington in Peru is a heartwarming film about embracing your inner bear and discovering how precious home is.

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A worthy addition to a fantastic series. A fairly notable departure from the previous installments under Dougal Wilson's direction, but in a way that handily manages to avoid feeling unwelcome. As other reviews have noted, some of the charm of the London-based Paddington adventures is lost, and there is an ambitious venture into a zanier style of humour, but this lands far more often than not. Sally Hawkins is much missed, and it feels that the character of Mary was down-written a bit in response, denying Emily Mortimer the opportunity to make the role her own, a little unfairly. Meanwhile Olivia Colman provides one of the best characters of the whole series as The Reverend Mother in a genuinely hilarious performance highlighting her ridiculous range. A special mention has to go to the visual design, which runs the gamut from impeccable sets, to studied cinematography, to fun cartoony animated effects, to jawdroppingly beautiful sequences that appear hand-painted. I was prepared to go home disappointed, but Paddington in Peru makes it 3 for 3.

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