Paddington in Peru | 2025
Paddington (Ben Whishaw) in PADDINGTON IN PERU.
Compared to its predecessor, 2017's widely acclaimed Paddington 2, Paddington in Peru may seem a bit more like standard kiddie fare. Paddington 2 remains one of the most wondrous and emotionally astute children's movies of the last 20 years, so whatever came next was likely always going to be in its shadow. Paddington in Peru is a perfectly charming film on its own, even if it's a marked step down from the two films directed by Paul King that came before.
This time, the world's most polite bear (Ben Whishaw) heads back home to Peru in search of his Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) who has gone missing somewhere in the Amazon rainforest. With a somewhat unhinged riverboat captain (Antonio Banderas) as their guide, Paddington and family head off into the jungles of darkest Peru on an unwitting quest not only to find Aunt Lucy, but the lost city of El Dorado.
Part of the charm of the Paddington films has always been how his inherent kindness affects those he meets and how his sometimes hapless attempts to fit in and be British sometimes end in disaster. Paddington in Peru doesn't really afford Paddington much time for such things, and while he's still as clumsy as ever, the isolated nature of the story doesn't allow him to touch many lives along the way. Olivia Colman is a delight as a particularly suspicious nun, but this film is more concerned with high adventure and Paddington's ultimate quest to find where he belongs. While he does eventually find where he came from, he, of course, realizes he's been home all along.
It's a plot that resembles, somewhat surprisingly, Kung Fu Panda 3, which also found its bear hero discovering where he came from, only to choose to stay with the family he's come to know. Of course, this is all done with Paddington's signature British manners, which always make for some cute moments, but it doesn't have that colorfully whimsical spark that made the first two films so magical. Fans will no doubt enjoy spending another two hours in the company of this lovable bear and his family, and parents may be relieved to see a family film mercifully light on obnoxious (and instantly dated) pop culture references, even if his latest adventure doesn't quite reach the heights we've come to expect.
