The classics come in a myriad of forms…

History tends to forget that while the 3^rd installment of any trilogy will often be lesser then those that preceded it, it doesn’t mean it’s a bad movie.  Paddington In Peru slides comfortably in the same realm as The Godfather Part III because while it lacks the general enjoyment of the first two installments, it’s still delightful as all hell.

When Paddington discovers his beloved Aunt Lucy has gone missing from the Home for Retired Bears, he and the Brown family head to the wilds of Peru to look for her, the only clue to her whereabouts a spot marked on an enigmatic map. Determined to solve the mystery, Paddington embarks on a thrilling quest through the rainforests of the Amazon to find his aunt…and may also uncover one of the world’s most legendary treasures.

It’s the ultimate test of formula when you can give audiences a familiar and often nearly identical plotline from previous iterations and still have it work.  That’s Paddington In Peru in a nutshell.  It’s family friendly adventure with the Brown’s and the ever curious Paddington.

Director Dougal Wilson does a serviceable job here and given his track record of mostly music videos before this which is his debut feature it all makes sense.  The film looks great, has solid pacing and flow never leaving us bored, sure we could give credit to a tight screenplay for that, but honestly this formula is so bullet proof that I probably could have directed this with similar results.

That being said, it’s the indomitable Ben Whishaw as the voice of Paddington that can’t help but wrap up audiences like they’re in the middle of warm marmalade sandwich.  Seeing him navigate the story of the Browns as they all get older was let another quality installment as we understand how Paddington truly learns the meaning of home.   The ensemble bounces off of each other effortless as Hugh Bonneville and Emily Mortimer never get the credit they deserve as the patriarch and matriarch of what has quickly become our favourite on screen family that’s always up for adventure.

Antonio Banderas and Carla Tous add some necessary colour to the adventure and with some well-placed cameos sprinkled about, we are never left wanting more or ever looking at our watch.

While the unexpected magic of the first two films will never quite be matched; Paddington In Peru leaves this critic no doubt that if we have Paddington ever doing anything else on screen again, we will be sliding our money to the ticket booth every single time.