Day
101 Paddington
2 [2017]
Screenplay Paul King & Simon Farnaby
Based on ‘Paddington Bear’ by Michael Bond
Director Paul King
Cinematography Erik Wilson
Music Dario
Marianelli
Leads Ben
Whishaw, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, Sally Hawkins, Hugh Bonneville, Brendan
Gleeson, Julie Walters, Peter Capaldi, Noah Taylor, Tom Conti, Joanna Lumley
Production Heyday Films, StudioCanal
IMDb 8/10
Rotten Tomatoes 100%
The
critics seem to love this, so I had to see what all the fuss was about. I
settled down to watch it with my family over the Easter weekend as it is a ‘family
film’ after all. I should mention the youngest of us is 22 so we didn’t have
the child’s perspective, but I consider myself young at heart… I think Ben Whishaw
is a solid actor, but I just don’t think his voice worked as Paddington. That
was a serious stumbling block for me to ignore in a film full of British
talent. There was a star at every corner, even in minor roles. I think that was
the best thing about this film. It instilled within me a sense of British
pride, especially as a Londoner. Yes, it shows the posh side of London, but it
is based on the story of Paddington bear so we can’t worry about that side of
things too much. Hugh Grant seems to have had a career revival of sorts and has
broken out of his stereotypical role which he will forever be type cast in. The
prison scene was a definite shout out to Wes Anderson and I hope Paul King
would admit that. It had Grand Budapest written all over it, from the
colours, to the symmetry, even the plot was fairly similar. Strangely I think
my favourite character was Tom Conti (Friends fans will remember him as
Emily’s father), he exemplified the old-world upper-class British man and had
me giggling. I’m afraid to say though for all its effort it failed to stir up any
child-like feeling I thought might still exist within me. The best ‘kids’ films
are those that children enjoy, which also appeal to adults. The Disney films of
old do this, as well as Toy Story, Shrek and so on. However, that
is due to nostalgia as I was a child when I first watched them. Better examples
are films such as WALL-E or Up which I watched when much older
(and when I was too cool for children’s films of course). Yet both had me
tearing up, whilst also chuckling away. Paddington 2 just didn’t do this
for me, it had the odd cheap laugh, but I’m not sure why the critics have been
so kind. Perhaps because Paddington is a British institution, and everyone was
scared. Well Not I. I would have liked to watch it with someone a generation
below to see what they thought though as, on this one, their opinion matters
much more than mine.
Acting 3 / 4
Writing 2.5 / 4
Cinematography 3 / 4
Music 2 / 4
HWF rating 2.5 / 4
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