Paddington 2

Quick Impressions:
I’ve been a big fan of Paddington since my aunt gave me a hardback collection of his adventures for my fifth birthday.

As a child, I was partial to “Paddington and the Christmas Play.” At random moments throughout my childhood, my mother and I would exclaim to one another, “Gadzooks! You left the secret plans under my coconuts!”

The 2014 Paddington was a delightful, charming gem of a film (so different from its poor and misleading American trailers). I love the storybook charm, the kooky humor, and the immigrant-positive message and music of that movie. All of these things are back in Paddington 2, along with the amazing original cast (minus Nicole Kidman, as you’d expect, but, surprisingly, including Simon Farnaby who still has an eye for an exceptionally attractive woman and also gets a writing credit this time around).

In place of Kidman’s wicked taxidermist, we get a new villain, Hugh Grant as the scariest antagonist of them all, an actor past his prime. Before seeing the movie, I was stunned to discover Grant’s name in the list of BAFTA Best Supporting Actor nominations. “And Hugh Grant for Paddington 2!?!” 

Since the movie hadn’t opened here yet, that came as a bit of a surprise. But now that I’ve seen it, I must agree that his performance as the delightfully named Phoenix Buchanan is something really special. (Of course, Kidman was great, too. Where was her BAFTA nomination?) We also get another superb star supporting turn by Brendan Gleeson as the surly prison cook transformed by the miraculous power of marmalade.

Paddington 2 is a fantastic family film. Even my father liked it, as my mother kept exclaiming in stunned bemusement after the movie. My one regret about the experience is that my husband missed the last hour of the movie since our two-year-old son decided to run away up the stairs to go exploring and had to be removed from the theater. (This says nothing about the quality of the movie, but does suggest that perhaps we should wait before taking my son to the theater again since his behavior there is sort of like the little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead.)

The Good:
The Paddington films are so well written, so cohesive. The first movie is immigrant positive, placing emphasis on welcoming and respecting the stranger. Nicole Kidman’s character is not just some random baddie. She’s someone obsessed with a former method of world relations–conquer, appropriate, stuff, and mount. The original Paddington repudiates that old method of interacting with the larger world and proposes a better model to replace it, welcome and integrate.

Paddington 2 works in a similar way. This time the focus is on community building, learning to work with others so that we’re stronger together. Not surprisingly, the villain this time around has a strange quirk. He refuses to work with other actors. He’s a one-man show. This is pretty brilliant since acted out before us, we literally see a man talking to himself in different accents as different characters. That is not a community. It’s an act. Or maybe it’s just madness.

(I kept thinking of one college course I took with pretty homogeneous enrollment where we imagined what different types of people would say and tried to argue those views. Then later, I taught a course to a genuinely diverse group of students. The difference was obvious. Authentic voices are not the same as even the most well meaning ventriloquy.)

The whole movie really punches this idea of the power of a diverse community, working together and benefiting from one another’s strengths, compensating for one another’s weaknesses. The prison subplot, Judy’s hilarious newspaper (my daughter and I kept finding new things to giggle about there), the Brown family’s usual scramble to get pointed in the same direction, Jonathan’s dilemma about whether to be his authentic self–it’s such a well-crafted story.

But the thing is, you hardly even notice the message as you’re watching. I mean, you notice, but it doesn’t feel overbearing or preachy because the movie is so much fun.

For one thing, like its predecessor, Paddington 2 is beautiful and enchanting in an almost storybook way.

London is my favorite place in the world. Several years ago, I asked myself why books made London seem so magical and wondrous. I concluded that it was where the authors lived or worked. It was the city they knew, so they made it into a world of enchantment by writing magical works of fiction about it.

I decided to do the same thing. I really dug into my own surroundings and tried to make my books as atmospheric as possible. It worked. My writing improved, and viewing my own surroundings with a sense of wonder actually did curb my wanderlust.

But seeing Paddington 2 brought all of my old longing for London rushing back. The city looks amazing in this movie, and it’s presented to us through the most magical, wondrous lens possible. If I could afford it, I’d take my family to London right now. Instead, I’ll have to settle for a pop-up book that I already own.

The steam carnival/vintage circus stuff is really compelling, as well.

And we get so many heartwarming moments in Paddington 2. I cried a couple of times. The emphasis on community isn’t just for public edification. All of the interpersonal relationships feel so genuine in this film. I dare you to make it through with dry eyes!

Best of all, though, is the comedy, all different kinds of comedy. Sometimes you smile. Sometimes you chuckle. Sometimes you laugh out loud!

Best Scene:
Not only did I laugh out loud (like really, really loud) during this movie. I laughed out loud multiple times. During the same scene. Raucously.

There’s much to find joyous and titter-worthy in this film, but the scene that nearly killed me with laughter is Phoenix Buchanan’s unexpected meeting with the Browns in his home. I kept telling myself that this should not be as funny as it was. I was actually embarrassed by how much I was laughing (though plenty of other people were just as conspicuous in their laughter).

Best Action Sequence:
Paddington’s bungled efforts to do his various jobs are pretty great.

At one point, I leaned over and whispered to my daughter, “That’s how I clean windows.”

With a fit of giggles, she replied seriously, “That’s how you clean anything!”

She was right.

And, later, the big train chase is full of peril, action, mayhem, and fun.

Most shockingly hilarious to me is Mrs. Bird’s reaction when Phoenix tells her something that as far as she knows could be a bluff. I don’t know why. Moments after this happened, I began to find her bold choice retroactively hilarious.

Best Scene Visually:
The prison escape looks like it’s plucked right from a pop-up book. I also like the bit with the nun.

Most Oscar Worthy Moment, Hugh Grant:
How often in a family movie do you see a romantic comedy superstar channeling his inner Abel Magwitch? I love the way Grant’s Phoenix surrounds himself with his most famous characters and converses with them all like a madwoman in an attic. His performance is delightful. The big production number at the end is great, too.

Also, if any Jeopardy! writers happen to be reading this, I’d just like to say, “What is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Buchanan?” (Just keep that in mind the next time you have a British Literature Before and After category. I’ll give you that.)

Other Great Performances:
This film has the best cast in the world. There are so many stars in it, I hesitate to name them all since I’d basically just be typing out the cast list. If you love British film or television, then you’re bound to encounter some of your favorites here.

To be honest, though, I think Brendan Gleeson gives just as strong a performance as Hugh Grant. He just plays a less unusual character.

Sally Hawkins is marvelous in this movie, too. If any Oscar voters are watching, it’s got to help her chances.  She’s so luminous in the underwater scene.

The Negatives:

If you’re anything like me, you may leave the movie with a strange craving to watch Beetlejuice, though I’m not sure that’s a bad thing.

Honestly, Paddington 2 doesn’t give us much to complain about.  It’s best, of course, not to become too bogged down in the logic behind every little detail of the plot.

My daughter kept insisting, “Since he’s practically still a cub, shouldn’t they send him to juvie?”

“I’m amazed they sent him anywhere at all,” I said, “since he had nothing incriminating on him and Mr. Gruber didn’t want to press charges.”

“But, remember,” my mother reminded us, “this is England, and we might not fully understand the British judicial system.”

So if you take exception to the logic of any of the events depicted in this story, remember to step back and ask yourself, “But do I fully understand the British judicial system?”

I think you’ll find that quickly silences any of your objections.

Overall:
Paddington 2 is what every children’s movie ought to be. If you can’t afford a ticket to London this January, buy a ticket to Paddington 2. (And if you can’t afford that, get Movie Pass! Seriously, it is such a good deal!)  (I swear they’re not paying me to say that.)