



After being framed for the crime, Paddington is sent to prison, leading his adoptive family to try and help him get out. After settling on a pop-up book of London and working as a window cleaner to save money for it, it’s stolen by Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant), a narcissistic and washed-up actor who now does dog food commercials. And despite how clichéd that endorsement may sound, Paddington 2 somehow isn’t.Īfter being settled in with the Brown family led by Henry (Hugh Bonneville) and Mary (Sally Hawkins), Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw), he decides to get the perfect gift for his biological Aunt Lucy’s (voiced by Imelda Staunton) one hundredth birthday. Here, the filmmakers understand and appreciate the audience, providing a steady stream of pratfalls and British humor that serves children and adults without ever condescending. With Paddington 2, that hug is transformed into feature film format, utterly warm but never scalding, a homemade loaf of bread fresh out of the oven yet cool enough to eat immediately. I’m not too sure what it is about bears that exude wholesomeness, but whether they’re real and nameless, in a video game and named Banjo, or in a storybook and then in a surprisingly good live-action/CGI hybrid family film, they’re essentially the animal equivalent of a parental hug.
