Paddington 2 (2017) – Review

Thank you to everyone who liked and commented on my Paddington (2014) review! I loved hearing all of your thoughts and it seems like the consensus is that everyone absolutely adores that movie. Looks like you all have great taste 🙂 With everyone highly recommending the sequel, I couldn’t not check it out right away. So without further ado – here is my review for Paddington 2 (2017)! 😀

---

Creating a sequel that is equally good or even better than the first film is an extremely difficult task that many franchises fail to do, but somehow, Paddington 2 makes it look effortless. After completely falling in love with our lovable furry hero, I knew I had to watch the sequel right away. To my delight, Paddington 2 managed to capture the same warmth and charm as the first film. With the wonderful addition of Hugh Grant alongside the original cast, the movie is an absolute blast. If you have not yet seen it, I urge you to please give it a watch.

I didn’t think it was possible, but I enjoyed Paddington 2 even more than the first one. It was hilariously entertaining and filled with so many moments of heartwarming goodness. I love finding a great feel good movie because they’re so hard to come by nowadays. We need more content like this! After thoroughly enjoying both of these movies, they have definitely permanently made it onto my list of go-to watches.

The sequel was much more adventurous than the first with a lot more action involved. It wasn’t done in a tacky way though, it just felt like innocent fun. If anything, it helped make the movie feel fresh and exciting. It seems Paddington has no shortage of adventures, and each “villain” is as wacky and outrageous as the previous one. Grant portrayed the flamboyant “villianous” character excellently; he added just the right amount of flair that made it funny without being too obnoxious. I’m excited to see who they will bring next in the third movie.

If you had told me that this lovable bear would be heading to jail in Paddington 2, I don’t know if I would have believed you. But after finishing the movie, I realized some of my favourite scenes came from the prison! If I had to name my favourite scene from the entire movie, I’d have to say it was the entire montage where Paddington transformed the hardened inmates into well seasoned bakers. When I first saw Paddington got sentenced to jail, I knew in my heart that the prisoners would fall in love with him eventually, but I had no idea it would be to this extent (I absolutely loved it).

Another thing that I really love about this movie is that it’s able to be funny without relying only on childish, immature humour. The humour comes naturally. The actors all have great delivery and solid comedic timing that helps to make the comedy actually enjoyable. There were multiple times where I laughed out loud (I thought Mr. Brown doing the splits on the train was hilarious), which is more than some other comedy movies I’ve seen recently.

But while Paddington 2 is undoubtedly categorized as a children’s film, I can’t help but feel that it’s the adults who are in need of this movie’s message more than ever. Given today’s climate, the movie’s emphasis on being kind and looking for the good in people is so touching but so so necessary. Paddington’s determination in upholding this motto is what truly carries the film – his genuine goodness lights up the screen and leaves the audience feeling uplifted. Honestly, we could all benefit by having an Aunt Lucy in our lives.

The only fault I can find with this movie is that the ending was a little rushed. I wanted to see more of Aunt Lucy and Paddington together in London! I think it also could’ve been interesting to see the moment when Paddington cleared his name. But if the only bad thing I can say about a movie is that I wish I could see more of it, it’s not really that bad at all. Besides, the ending was so heartfelt and sweet, I don’t really want to nitpick at it. Since the first movie, I had honestly hoped that Aunt Lucy would be able to see London eventually, but the fact that it came true was truly wonderful.

Now that I’m familiar with the two movies, seeing this adorable, optimistic little bear in a blue raincoat and red hat makes me so happy. I love everything Paddington stands for and the positive message he tries to send to everyone around him. It’s clear to me that this movie and the franchise as a whole is made with so much love and care, I’m not worried about whether the next installment will be bad – I know it’s going to be equally delightful. With around 4 hours of hearing the word marmalade this week under my belt, I’m going to give Paddington 2 an 8.5/10. There just really isn’t much to fault. All I can do now is wait for the third film to come out!