Written by: Paul King (written by), Hamish McColl and Paul King (screen story), Michael Bond (character "Paddington Bear")
Directed by: Paul King
Starring: Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Nicole Kidman
Rated: PG
Watch the trailer
Plot
A lost Peruvian bear finds shelter with a kind British family, but a museum taxidermist has designs on his rare hide.
Verdict
This is a silly movie that ignores realism. If this was animated, it wouldn't be so noticeable. The rules of an animated world are different. With the right animation style this would even look cute, but this is just a lazy adaptation.
Skip it.
Review
At some point this must have been planned to be fully animated. This would better fit the aesthetics of the book that inspired the movie, but for whatever reason this is live action with a CGI bear.
When Paddington arrives at the train station, no one bats an eye at a live talking bear. In a cartoon, I could accept that, but with live action that defies logic. I need an explanation as to why a live bear is common place. Despite being a children's movie, it still needs to provide explanations when reality diverges. Children aren't dumb.
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| Paddington -Would have been better animated. |
Hugh Bonneville's line in the station when he sees Paddington is funny, "Keep your eyes averted. It's a bear. He might be selling something." It would have benefited from a better set up. Why would he assume a bear is a salesman rather than a property destroyer?
The movie mostly relies on Paddington's propensity to make any situation worse, usually to a mildly funny effect.
The bigger question may be why Nicole Kidman is in this movie. Didn't she used to be famous? She's the rather boring villain. This movie isn't bad, but there are kids' movies that are so much better. This feels like a lazy ploy to cash in on the highly regarded book. It's silly enough to entertain children, but even then it's incredibly easy to find a movie a child would like more, and this holds nothing for an adult.
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