Paddington was a huge part of
my childhood. I had just always hoped that no one was going to mess with him
and turn him into a film star or anything. Suppose you can’t have everything.
At least he’s no longer going to have Colin Firth’s voice, which really would
have been too much.
Initially the plot is good, they haven’t strayed
from the whole family finding a talking teddy bear in a train station idea
which is good and they’ve added a clever back story in Darkest Peru as well. As
a Paddington aficionado I didn’t expect to like that but I did.
When an earthquake destroys their idyllic life in Darkest
Peru, Paddington (Ben Whishaw) stows away on a boat bound for London whilst his
Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) heads for the notorious Home for Retired Bears.
Then he is rescued from Paddington railway station by the Browns
(Sally Hawkins and Hugh Bonneville) and moves in at 32 Windows Gardens, where
Mrs Bird (Julie Walters) is the housekeeper and next door is the legendary Mr
Curry (Peter Capaldi). So far so good. He is introduced to Mr Gruber (Jim
Broadbent) at his antique shop on the Portobello Road, presumably they have
elevenses, and his first attempt at having a bath is predictably a disaster.
Which is where things start to go a bit awry. Paddington seems to have an out
of body experience as he virtually destroys the Brown's home. They may not have
messed so much with Paddington himself but maybe they have with his mind.
Paddington himself is excellent. His expressions and
mannerisms are spot on, an unfailingly polite bear at heart, although only one
hard stare all film is a bit unrealistic.
Then there’s all this palaver with Millicent the taxidermist
(Nicole Kidman) who is determined to stuff the bear and put him in a glass box
at the Natural History Museum. What’s that all about and why? Pointless and
unnecessary. For some reason there is always an urge to turn every film into an
action movie. Kidman herself seems to have misread the script as she looks and
behaves more like a dominatrix than a taxidermist and I haven’t even mentioned Hugh
Bonneville’s cross dressing. Then again, what’s Christmas without a touch of pantomime?
Still, it’s an excellent effort in bringing Paddington into
the 21st century, whether he wanted to be in the 21st century or not and there
are many references to Michael Bond's books for those who are paying attention.
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