Paddington 2 Film Review

It's been quite a while since the first live action Paddington film was talked and just as long since an episode of the classic Paddington TV show was talked about. Well I thought that with the announcement of Paddington 4 it only made sense to see the film that people consider to be the best Paddington film and after seeing it for myself for the second time yeah it's hard to argue that statement and so then join me as I review the film that sees Q from the James Bond films team up with Mad Eye Moody with the film in question being called simply just "Paddington 2" enjoy.

The plot of this film is when he is framed for stealing a book Paddington is sent to jail and the Browns have to work out who did it and free there beloved bear once and for all. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. This films plot is one that does not only recapture the spirit and tone of the first film perfectly but it also manages to capture the spirit and tone of the original books as well with it being made clear that the makers of these first two films are die hard fans of not only the books but also the characters themselves. As they do craft plots that whilst they are obviously more cinematic in nature do feel like something that Paddington creator Michael Bond could have written with the only down side in regards to this films plot being the fact that it does feel like that the film is hitting on alot of the same beats as the first film as much like in the first film Paddington thinks that the Browns don't love him and goes to do something else and Mr. Brown does also have a confrontation with Mr. Curry both of which are things that were done in the first film and whilst they don't detract from the plot of this film it is something that should have been changed due to the fact that we've already seen it, this films plot is also shockingly strong as nobody would have expected the plot to a Paddington film to be as strong as it is and yet due to the fact that the plot of this film does get alot of focus then it does come of as being really strong in the process with the plot of this film also being really rather rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is Hugh Bonneville as Henry Brown , Sally Hawkins as Mary Brown and Brendan Gleeson as Knuckles McGinty. Also starring in this film is Ben Whishaw as the voice of Paddington , Dame Julie Walters as Mrs Bird , Jim Broadbent as Mr Samuel Gruber , Peter Capaldi as Mr Reginald Curry , Madeleine Harris as Judy Brown , Samuel Joslin as Jonathan "J-Dog" Brown , Dame Eileen Atkins as Madame Kozlova , Dame Imelda Staunton as the voice of Aunt Lucy , Sir Michael Gambon as the voice of Pastuzo , Dame Joanna Lumley as Felicity Fanshaw , Noah Taylor as Miguel Phibs , Aaron Neil as Raul "Spoon" Spooner , Jessica Hynes as Miss Kitts , Ben Miller as Colonel Lancaster , Sanjeev Bhaskar as Dr Jafri , this films co-writer Simon Farnaby as Barry , Robbie Gee as Mr Barnes , Meera Syal as A Prosecutor , Richard Ayoade as A Forensic Investigator and Hugh Grant as Phoenix Buchanan.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. To put it bluntly any praise that this film got for it's acting is something that it earned as all of this films actors do turn in some really good performances in this film be they a returning actor or a new actor they all really did nail there characters down perfectly and while yes the films returning actors would have it more easier in this regard due to them being in the first film but even they still showed up and brought there A game in this film and showed why they are these good actors in the first place. With the films best actor being Ben Whishaw as the voice of Paddington as he really does nail the character down perfectly with him managing to capture the true essence of just who this character is whilst also managing to bring something that makes this version of the character feel unique to him as it would have been really easy to copy the character from the books and put no effort into the performance as these are after all kids films but it's the fact that he managed to go that extra mile and to put in that love and effort into creating this truly wonderful performance that does make his acting in the film stand out all the more because of it with the acting that's in this very film really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so good that all this films actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.

Doing the CGI for this film is Framestore , Rodeo FX , Technicolor Creative Services VFX , Cheap Shot , BlueBolt , Passion Pictures and Artem. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. The fact this films CGI is as good as it is is something that's not really all that surprising as the film did have alot of really good effects companies working on it with it being clear that they did put in there best work for this film. Whilst Avatar: The Way Of Water did rightfully get alot of praise for its water effects this film does also have some pretty convincing water effects as well as there is a scene at the end of the film where both Paddington and Mrs. Brown are in some water and given the fact that Paddington is a CGI creature it would also mean having to replace huge chunks of the water in the scene and it is something that does look good yes granted it doesn't look as good as it did in Avatar: The Way Of Water but that's because of the fact that that film came out many years after this one did and for the time the water effects in thus film did look really good. The other thing that does make this films effects look really good being the fact that they have Paddington get wet alot of the time and for those of you in the know not only is doing realistic looking fur hard to do but doing realistic looking fur that is also wet is even hard due to the fact that both fur and water don't act the same way every single time and yet the makers of this film managed to make it look as good as they possibly could have done and while Avatar: The Way Of Water does rightfully get alot of praise for its effects this film should get just as much praise for its effects as they were doing alot of the stuff that was done in that second Avatar movie only on a much more smaller scale.

Whilst kids today don't even know that before the films Paddington had appeared in a 1975 animated TV series of the same name. The makers of this film clearly did remember that great show as not only did they include subtle nods to the show and how its version of Paddington looked in the first film but they also did it again in this film and now they took it one step further by having a vole sequence in the film where both Paddington and Aunt Lucy as well as the backgrounds are all done in 3D with the sequences human characters being to look like cutouts with 2D animated movements with this being exactly how they were done in the original show and it's something that people who know the characters just from these films wouldn't pick up on but those of that that not only did watch but still indeed continue to watch the show would have picked up on. This was a nice touch as given the fact that these films are lets be honest here mainly made for little kids it is something that they didn't have to include but the fact that they did does show us the audience that the makers of this film do have a great respect for not only the Paddington books but also his other appearances as well and to be fair to the film even tho that one sequence might seem like a nothing scene it is in that scene where he does get the idea to get Aunt Lucy the London Pop Up book for her birthday which is something that does kick off the whole events of the film and while kids today might have been puzzled by the weird choice to have the human characters appear like cutouts in that scene the adults watching the film will be brought back to a time when they were the same ages of the kids watching this film and seeing that show for the first time.

The one word that can be best used to describe this film is happy as thats exactly how this film makes you feel. It makes you feel happy with there being alot of scenes in the film that do bring a smile to your face be it because of the fact that the film has told another great joke or because of the fact that the film gives us an ending that will make you either cry tears of joy or tear up with tears of joy there is just happiness to be found in each and every scene in this film and that's how it should be because as Mr. Brown himself states Paddington looks for the best in every one and therefor the films that he is should be films that make you feel unbounded happiness and that is something that alot of films today even films made at kids are missing or just straight forgetting to do. Even the films villain Phoenix Buchanan manages to do as while yes he is the typical goofy kids film villain as he does have alot of jokes that make him goofy he does also have a more sinister side to him with him straight up trying to kill Mr. Brown , Judy and Mrs. Bird near the end of the film and heck he even comes close to drowning Paddington that is something that no villain has ever come close to doing and while his plan is a little bit on the light side as it does come off as being a bit like a plan that you would expect a kids film villain to have that is also something that does oddly work in this films favor as the film does manage to make both kids and adults truly hate this character whilst also making him a fun character that you want to see more scenes of in this film. With the only thing that would have made him more better of a villain being if his sense of humor was alot less Looney Tune like with all of the impressions that he does which yes does suit his actor character but it would have been so much more creepier and funnier if he had a more sarcastic sense of humor about him.

Lets take a second to talk about The Browns as in this film outside of being the ones to find out that Phoenix was one that stole the book. They don't get alot of things to do in the film with this being something that does both for and against the film it works against the film in that they are meant to be leading characters in the film and yet they are treated more like recurring characters and while the film does cut back to them frequently they never really feel like there main characters and yet when you compare this to the previous film there was no doubt that they are meant to be main characters much like Paddington himself. However this is where it starts to work in the films favour as all of the scenes that they are in feel all the more important with them doing all of the heavy lifting when it comes to working out who stole and the book and why and while they do repeat the same plot point with them with them going having to come to the rescue of Paddington much like what they did in the first film this again is something that does work for the film as they are meant to be this really close nit family and therefor when one of them is in trouble no matter how small the trouble is of course they will be there to help them out as that's what family does for family and to them Paddington is family and therefor of course they would want to race Paddington station to help him out as it would mean getting back the one bear that they love the most in this film and that is true love that you don't find in any other family friendly film and it is something that could only work with these characters as these characters are the kinds of people that will go to help you and having family go to help out other family members just because it's the the right thing to do is something that you don't see alot of in films these days when it really should be as its something that any loving family would be really happy to do no questions asked.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and forty three minuets and eighteen seconds. With this pretty much being the bogstandard running time for these Paddington films and to be fair to this film this film really does need that amount of running time as while it's not trying to tell a good mystery as the film does give away who stole the book right away it needs that running time to let scenes sit with you and to get all of the right emotions out of you and it can't do that still tell a good story in a shorter running time with this film even having the right amount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time. Whilst it could be argued that the film really doesn't use its running time all that wisely due to the fact that the films mystery is closely tied into the films plot and therefor the films mystery isn't as well developed as it really could have been one could argue that that is also the point of the film as this film much like the previous film is meant to give you the expirence of reading on of the Paddington books ad the books weren't as action packed as the films are and the books never really had a mystery to them and therefor for the film to devote alot of time into fully developing its plot would be something that would be going against that very idea would it have been nice if they did fully develop it's plot and not quite literally sign post who the main villain of the film yes of course it would but the film is just so charming in the first place that you do kind of forgive it for not doing that. The film does also take the time to fully develop alot of it's characters like for example Knuckles who does go from this cook who not only no one likes but also hates every one to someone who willingly saves Paddingtons life even tho it could mean him getting sent back to prison this time for longer then before this is something that he wouldn't have been able to do at the start of the film but due to meeting Paddington in this film he can do it but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt tat the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. To say that alot if not all of this films jokes are laugh out loud funny be a huge understatement as that's exactly what they are with this being what you get when you have one of the creators of the the original UK version of Ghosts co-writing your movie as all of this films jokes have that same absurd style of humor in them that was also seen in that show and while the film doesn't out right copy jokes from either the books or the original animated series like the first film did the jokes in this film do feel very much like the kinds of jokes that would most likely have been seen in the original books. With the best joke in the whole entire film being when Paddington is charged with trying to give a customer a haircut with it going about as well as you'd think it would with Paddington first loosing control to the clippers and then getting himself tangled up in the wires for the clippers which then somehow end up on the ceilings fans along with the barbers telephone but before that Paddington accidentally chops of a huge portion of the customers hair with them then sticking it back with what else but Marmalade. That is just such a perfect joke as it does feel true to who Paddington is as a character as he would get all of these wrong and he would cause all of this damage not because of the fact that he's a vengeful bear but because of the fact that doesn't know any better with this being why this joke works so well with the rest of the films jokes being just as painfully funny in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. 

Overall this film is as good as they say and then some as this is a film that knows when to get you right in the emotions and make you feel tears of joy and it knows when to be laugh out loud funny with it being easy to see why this film got as many rave reviews as it did as its just so much fun to watch in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 10 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co . Uk , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images really from this very film being the really great Google Images this is really because of the fact that really all of the images that I really indeed got and really used from Google Images are all really high quality really with all of the images that really are all and of course really currently up and on the really great and the really solid Google Images really are all being really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being fairly high in definition.