Paddington in Peru (2024)

Director: Dougal Wilson

Starring: Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Ben Whishaw

Paddington returns to Peru to visit his beloved Aunt Lucy, who now resides at the Home for Retired Bears. With the Brown family in tow, a thrilling adventure ensues when a mystery plunges them into an unexpected journey.

Paddington the cute and cuddly bear returns for another adventure – literally in this case. Paddington is still living happily in London with the Brown family. Henry now works for an insurance firm, Mary is taking on an art project, Judy is about to go to college, and Jonathan is an inventor. (The original cast members return, except for Sally Hawkins. The role of Mary Brown will now be played by Emily Mortimer.)

The Reverand Mother at the Home of Retired Bears contacts Paddington with news about his Aunt Lucy. Paddington decides to go see her in Peru, and the Brown family joins him to “spend more time together”. On arrival in Peru, they are told Aunt Lucy went missing, and so Paddington and the Browns rent a boat and head off into the Amazon. The boat is owned by the “charming” Hunter Cabot (Antonio Banderas) and his daughter Gina.

Their search for Lucy is about to take them to Rumi Rock, the entrance to the mythical El Dorado said to be filled with gold. Hunter’s family has been searching for El Dorado for centuries and he is determined not to fail…and the secret lies with Paddington.

Ok, I admire them for taking the franchise in a different direction, but let’s be honest, this is not a very well made movie. Apart from the CGI bears (Paddington in particular) the film looks cheap. Fake trees, fake plants, fake planes, fake forest, fake everything. ‘Paddington in Peru’ was so obviously shot in a studio against green and blue screens, with everything else added in post-production. With a budget of $90 million I expected the film to look much better, but I suppose most of this budget went into creating the CGI bears, which is understandable since Paddington can’t possibly be an actual bear.

Still, I’ve seen cheaper movies set in the Amazon – or any forest for that matter – which looked a lot more authentic. When the family was wondering through the forest, it looked as if they were on a stage filled with stage décor and props. Even their acting did not to their environment justice.

But let’s not get too critical about the movie’s looks. This movie is definitely aimed more at a young demographic, and kids won’t really know the difference. They will enjoy the movie for the cute bear characters, the funny antics of the humans, and the call to adventure. This is a perfect Sunday afternoon family movie.

There is a deeper underlying message here as well, but not nearly as effective or heartwarming as the original ‘Paddington’.

‘Paddington’ earned $268 million, ‘Paddington 2’ earned $226 million, and ‘Paddington in Peru’ earned just $104 million. I guess the figures don’t lie; this installment is not nearly as good as its predecessors.

Would I watch it again? No.