By Emilio Frenk.
Director: Paul King
Cast: Ben Whishaw (Voice), Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, Julie Walters, Imelda Staunton (Voice), Michael Gambon (Voice), Noah Taylor, Tom Conti, Jim Broadbent, Brendan Gleeson and Hugh Grant.
Rating: Excellent.
England´s favorite bear Paddington returns with Paddington 2 and this is a fun, entertaining and fantastic sequel from director Paul King who did the first film back in 2015.
The movie tells the story of Paddington Brown (Ben Whishaw) a bear who now lives with the Brown family conformed by Henry (Hugh Bonneville), Mary (Sally Hawkins), Judy (Madeleine Harris), Jonathan (Samuel Joslin) and Mrs. Bird (Julie Walters).
Paddington has a very good life with the Browns and he is excited of the news that his Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) is coming to London to visit on her birthday. Paddington is very excited and decides to work in a series of jobs in order to buy his Aunt a birthday present.
He see´s a book that shows London but it´s a very valuable book and the only one left in existence. This will also draw the attention of Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant) an actor who once was at the top of his game and wants the precious item at all costs, even to the fact that he stole the book and blames Paddington for the crime, which leads him to prison.
Now Paddington is behind bars and the Browns will try to help him in order to clear his name, obtain the book and help their furry friend to buy his aunt a memorable birthday present.
“Paddington 2” is a movie that works at all levels and it´s because of the originality of the screenplay written by Paul King and Simon Farnaby. Both of them adapted brought to life a marvelous screenplay based on the characters by Michael Bond; the dialogue of the film is very rich and the characters are likable from beginning to end.
I have mentioned before that is rarely the case that we see a sequel being original than it´s predecessor. This is one of the clearest examples and works at all levels.
The screenplay had a very good plot and keeps you intrigued from beginning to end. The story has a very good villain in Hugh Grant who gave a great performance as Phoenix Buchanan. He´s use of comedy was very good and also is really mean in this role. Another great character was Brendan Gleeson, who played Knuckles McGinty with so much wit and as usual he gives a wonderful performance.
The direction by Paul King was great and not only he did a great job on making the film have a good but also he knew how to get the best out of his cast that he had at his disposal.
Again if you have a good screenplay, practically you are the king of the mountain and “Paddington 2” proves my point.
In this time of the year is very difficult to see movies this good since most people are more focused in the movies that are contenders in the next awards season and is practically normal.
“Paddington 2” is by far one of the best children´s movie I have seen since Toy Story 3. It´s a movie that combines all the elements it´s touching, sweet and tender. You will be moved from beginning to end and has a powerful message on never giving up your dreams.
The use of comedy and the timing of the film hit it´s mark. For a movie like this the elements that I mentioned are paramount and here they did everything right with this film.
I was not expecting anything from Paddington 2. I liked the original from 2015 but this is a much better film and I did not expected it to be this good.
“Paddington 2” is one of the biggest surprises of this year, I highly recommend it and I believe that as a parent you will have a fantastic time with your family and children.