Paddington Review

Paddington Bear has been knocking about since 1958. With a truck load of books and television appearances, Paddington has become a much loved character for younger viewers and us older cronies have many cherished childhood memories of a scraggy old bear with a big hat and a blue duffel coat.

The live action movie has been knocking about since 2007 and now, seven years later the bear has pulled into the station which gave him his name. And what a delight this movie is.

It’s warm, charming, funny, smart and witty with Oscar worthy visual effects and animation. That’s the first thing that will melt your heart and blow your jaw off at the same time. The realistic style of Paddington is simply sublime. Director Paul King has managed to keep in many real bear characteristics with the beloved bear, while at the same time giving him a phenomenally charming personality. While it might be quite bizarre to see this bear interact with humans while clambering up a stair case like a bear might (and nobody batting an eyelid in the process) it really is truly magical.

Unfortunately Paddington is only let down by it’s rather whimsical story. While it starts out with Paddington making the move to London, the introduction of Nicole Kidman’s character, Millicent, turns the whole movie into a hap hazard kidnap the bear caper. It adds very little to the story, which up until her introduction, was sweet, charming and refreshing. It’s not only the writing side of things that is poor here, but Kidman turns in the worst performance of her career. Looking like a lost German dominatrix, she dials in a performance that is as forced and contrived as her outfits. The rest of the cast do a decent enough job though, besides Jim Broadbent managing to provide the world’s most annoying accent. Michael Gambon and Imelda Staunton in particular deliver a touching and heartfelt 90 minutes and theres more than enough cameos to keep you on your toes. But the real star of the show is Paddington and he’s worthy of the price of admission alone. A real tour de force of character animation and some astounding visual effects which blur the lines between reality and imagination. If there isn’t an Oscar nomination for the visual effects here, there really is no justice in the world.

Dodgy story line aside, Paddington is sweet, charming, funny and incredibly touching. In fact, this is the surprise of the year.With more than enough jokes for adults and kids to enjoy, this is one bear necessity that you simply must see!