My Review of 'Paddington 2'

Paddington 2 came out last year and quite honestly, I didn't expect a sequel to Paddington. The first movie was a surprise hit. I was one of the doubters thinking that it wouldn't succeed, but after I watched it, I understood why it did so well. It was a self contained origin story of Paddington the bear. It had tons of heart, charisma, and joy spread throughout the movie. I didn't think that they'd be able to capture the spirit of the first movie because the first movie had such a sense of innocence that pulled in the audience.

The trailer for Paddington 2 came and I started to have the same doubts as I did for the original Paddington. It looked as though Paddington was put in jail. When I saw this, I didn't know what kind of absurdity was going to be involved with this sequel. My ignorance prevented me from watching the movie in the theaters. It took me a whole year for me to finally get to watch this movie. I'm glad to say that I was wrong.

Paddington 2 is obviously the story about Paddington, voiced again by Ben Whishaw. In this sequel, Paddington wants to purchase a birthday gift for his Aunt Lucy, voiced by Imelda Staunton. She's done so much for Paddington, and he would really like to give her something special to show his appreciation. One of his Aunt Lucy's greatest wishes was to visit London, but Paddington doesn't have the money to get her to London. Instead, he looks into an old shoppe and finds a pop-up book about London. He really wants to get the book, but it turns out to be a collectors item so he can't afford it. Paddington hatches a plan to make the money by doing odd jobs. In the meantime, a washed out actor by the name of Phoenix Buchanan, played by Hugh Grant, catches wind of the pop-up book and attempts to steal it. Not knowing what Phoenix is up to, Paddington chases after the disguised thief only to be framed for the crime. Paddington is then sent to prison.

The story then picks up there where Paddington makes friends in prison. His exploits in prison are pretty funny, and he still has that sense of innocence wherever he goes. Even during the beginning of the movie, it's made aware how much Paddington enriches the lives of the people in the neighborhood.

I'm glad they kept the cast of the previous Paddington movie. The children don't really play as much of a role in this movie, but each member of the family learns new things that foreshadow things to come. The movie still feels very British. They make great use of the underground trains and phone booths. It's funny how it feels natural that they use the phone booths rather than cell phones in the movie.

The charm isn't lost in the sequel. You'll be cheering for Paddington, his friends and his family by the end of the movie. Although it's the second movie none of the innocence of the first movie is lost in this one. All the characters are quirky as ever. This movie has a signature charm to it that can't really be captured by other movies.

Overall, I really liked this movie and I wouldn't mind watching it again. I don't think it's quite better than the first one, or worse either. I thought it was great so I'm giving this movie an eight out of ten. It's something that you can watch with any audience, because there are laughs for just about everyone. If this is playing I strongly urge you to give it a chance, because it'll be able to charm the pants off you.