Paddington in Peru – Movie Review

TL;DR – While it has not reached the heights of its predecessors, it was still a joy to be back in this world.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid and end-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Paddington in Peru Review

Few films series have hit such high expectations as the Paddington series, especially after just two films. Paddington 1 will always hold a special place in my heart because of getting to watch it with friends at a drive in one day and the joy that came with it. I don’t think I need to tell you about Paddington 2, given its impact on the film landscape. I mean, it was an entire plot point in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. But can they make it a hat trick? That is what we will find out today.

So, to set the scene, there have been a lot of changes to the Brown household. Henry (Hugh Bonneville) has a new boss, Madison (Hayley Atwell), who has told him he has to embrace risk. Judy (Madeleine Harris) has begun looking for a University, Jonathan (Samuel Joslin) has gone full-teenage and spends all his time in his room, and Mary (Emily Mortimer) is struggling with the coming empty next. But Paddington (Ben Whishaw) has just gotten his British citizenship and passport, which was just in time because The Reverend Mother (Olivia Colman) of The Home for Retired Bears in Peru writes to let everyone know that Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) not well. The Brown family rush to Peru, but when they get there, they find out that Aunt Lucy is missing and only Paddington might know where she has gone.

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Movie Review – Mary Poppins Returns

TL;DR – This is a film with two halves, the beautiful story of a family coming together in the face of a crisis with the help of Mary Poppins, but also a story about how it is individuals and not big corporations that are bad … from Disney … umm  

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Mary Poppins Returns . Image Credit: Disney.

Review

Mary Poppins is a movie that is quite dear to me. When I was a child it was one of those films that we would watch as a family on a Saturday night. I honestly I was not really all that on board with the remake/sequel hybrid film all the trailers seemed to imply that we were about to get. As well as this, I am starting to get a little tired of Disney’s ‘Weaponised Nostalgia Era’.  Well, that is what I thought walking in, but then a wave of joy enveloped my life leaving a smile on my face and tears rolling down my face.  

So to set the scene, it has been a number of years since the first film and the Banks’ children have grown up. Michael (Ben Whishaw) is, well was, a painter, who married and had three lovely children Annabel (Pixie Davies), John (Nathanael Saleh) and Georgie (Joel Dawson) before his wife tragically died. This has understandably sent ripples through the family, made all the worse when there is a knock on the door and we discover that the bank is foreclosing on the house because Michael has fallen behind paying back a loan, the same bank his father helped run, and the same bank he currently works for. Well, the whole family, including his sister Jane (Emily Mortimer) helps to look for their father’s shares in the bank in the last ditch effort in saving the house, when who should appear at the end of a kite, none other than Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) herself.

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