Looking for a good film for a family movie night with the kids? Then, here’s an absolute go-to choice! “PADDINGTON IN PERU” now streaming on Netflix, a charming classic piece!
Synopsis: (MAY contain spoilers)
Paddington Bear, now living in London with the Browns family receives a disturbing letter from the head of administration where his Aunt Lucy now resides in the Home for Retired Bears.
Together, they all take of to Peru to go see Aunt Lucy only to be met with a rude awakening that Aunt Lucy is missing.
THIS is where the adventure begins as everything suddenly starts to go south!
Please grab your cuppa, popcorn drink or whatever your preference is and chilax whilst you enjoy this ride (movie) with a runtime of 1hour 46minutes.
My Take:
This was absolutely beautiful!
Ben Wishaw as the voice of Paddington; always so calm and relaxing! Somehow reminds me of the late Sir James Earl Jones (may his soul rest).
“PADDINGTON IN PERU” is the third in the Paddington Franchise. While many have argued that this is the least enjoyable of all three, I find that this was equally interestingly captivating to watch!
I’ll admit that the first thing I observed was how this had a somewhat weak start and progressed rather sluggishly. It however was engaging, sometimes chaotically though but it had my kids beaming with smiles as they managed to point out some funny rhyming lines.
Hmmmmm…I think I may very well be inadvertently raising future movie critics you know! Their eye and ear for details, gosh!
This is so much so that my kids and I were able to pick out movies that this particular movie made reference to (three of which, they did by themselves and the others exclusively by me).
1. MUFASA The Lion King: For the backstory of how young Paddington got lost and was taken away by water merely hanging on to a log. This was screaming Mufasaaaaa! (Maybe coincidental though as both movies are 2024).
2. The Sound of Music: The way the nuns were dressed readily casts one’s mind to this 1965 people’s favourite. They also just had to SINGGGG!
Moreso, when the Reverend Mother (played by Olivia Colman from “Wicked Little Letters”) stood in the middle of freshly lawned field! Boy o boy! That was purely Julie Andrews as Maria in my eyes singing in the opening scenes of the all-time classical. My kids said same thing.
3. George of the Jungle 1&2: Brendan Fraser’s iconic movie also comes to mind for how the jungle setting was laid out here. Again, my boys screamed excitedly at this.
4. Sisters Act: This movie also subtly references Whoopi Goldberg’s Sisters Act in a certain kind of way in my view!
5. Featuring the legendary Antonio Banderas and the mention of El Dorado was absolutely exciting to see and hear!
Need I say more? My best part was when Paddington said “They’re my tribe but you are my family!” That got me really emotional!
Just go see this for yourself! And please be reminded that this started on a weak takeoff and some scenes could be seen as disappointing or boring as they could drag a bit but overall it’s an incredible watch!
