Paddington review

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After a lot of buzz overseas, British family movie Paddington has finally made a splash in North America. Thankfully, the film lives up to its acclaim, delivering cute fun for the whole family.

Paddington (voiced by Ben Wishaw) is a talking bear who, after the destruction of his home in a natural disaster, must find a new home in London. He meets the Brown family, consisting of Henry (Hugh Bonneville), Mary (Sally Hawkins), Judy (Madeline Harris), and Jonathan (Samuel Joslin), and their nanny Mrs. Bird (Julie Walters), who take him in for the night and want to help him find a new home. However, he soon finds London isn't as kind as he'd hoped.

Paddington is an adaptation of the beloved children's book series Paddington Bear, and though I have no experience with the source material, it's not hard to see where the charming nature of a classic children's book has been translated to the big screen. The film's original score does a great job of cementing a light, pleasant atmosphere for the film, and not once do the filmmakers resort to including a contemporaneous pop song. Instead, we're given a pleasant instrumental score, including styles ranging from somewhat ambient piano-heavy pieces to the much more rhythmic sounds of Caribbean and jazz music. A lot of the film's charm does come from the soundtrack, which is an excellent match for the script at hand, punctuating the serenity of the calmer moments just as well as the zaniness of the action scenes.

Said script clearly has a younger audience in mind, being filled with broad humour that will most likely appeal most to children, but it also has enough wit to appeal to parents and older fans of family entertainment as well. While the movie doesn't include any big surprises, its warm exterior is enough to distract from the story's more predictable elements.  The antagonist, Nicole Kidman's Millicent Clyde, is one of the sillier elements of an already pretty silly movie, but she's clearly having fun playing such a camp, over-the-top character. Going in to a film like this, you don't really expect the most subtle of villains, and the best case scenario, as is here, is for the villain to be written in a way that the actor can have fun with.

Thematically, Paddington is most clearly about two things: the bonds that make a family, and a foreign person fitting into a big city. The former is the main moral lesson of the film, as while the surface conflict is basically just Paddington and co. vs. Millicent, the more important conflict is the Browns learning to accept Paddington as a member of their family, even though he isn't related to them biologically. It's a sweet little message that's a perfect fit for a children's movie, and it very well might resonate in some way with some of the families watching.

Characters are particularly charming, with each of the characters being defined by a certain set of character traits. That's not to say they're stock characters, however, as there's a lot of depth to the individuals created here. Character traits are often put into context with the situations around them, and where they're not, the personalities are still plenty of fun. Paddington's constant politeness, which is apparently a staple of the character, is perfectly intact here and just as delightful over half a century after the character was created. I hadn't been that familiar with this character previously, but I feel certain that this film has the potential to revive his iconic status.

Visually, Paddington is absolutely gorgeous. The film's style is smartly evocative of a children's picture book, boasting vibrant colours as well as frequent beautiful wide shots and whimsical bird's eye views. Sets range from delightfully quaint houses to large spaces perfect for shenanigans, and they're all very well designed for their myriad purposes while keeping a decent feel of realism. The detail on the titular character is impressive, as he blends in near seamlessly with the sets and the human actors, while his anthropomorphic elements are just the right level of adorable to be irresistible. In fact, much of the film is the same: the warm message, the silly humour, the quirky characters, etc. If you see Paddington, prepare to be charmed.

At long last, 2015 begins. With the first stretch of major movies finally underway, and Oscar season coming to a close, the last of 2014 is behind us and the new year can properly begin. Paddington is a great film to start with, and even if you don't have a family to watch it with, it's an enjoyable, cute little movie that's perfect for a weekend at the movies. Both due to and despite its silly nature, Paddington is lovely.

8/10