Paddington 2

Paddington 2 takes the original humour from the first movie to a whole new level. Paddington 2 is a more complete story and even funnier than Paddington. There are great acting performances by the case and great cameo performances from various British actors. Special mention must go to Hugh Grant who shows a brilliant versatility that you may be unaware of! Ben Whishaw as Paddington is equally outstanding. The animation is phenomenal and Paddington is real enough to be believable while at the same time you know he is animated.

Paddington 2 is genuinely one of the best and funniest movies I’ve seen and also the highest rated movie ever. It is also highly redemptive (Paddington makes things better) and the film leaves you feeling happy and uplifted. It does its humour and storyline in a pretty much completely clean way and yet the humour is wide ranging enough for people of all ages and backgrounds. The sequence during the end credits is worthy of the price of the DVD, rental or download alone!

Film length is 99 minutes.

Some Points – Spoiler Alerts!

Throughout the movie, there are themes that keep coming back (listed alphabetically):

  1. Being Positive – Paddington keeps a good attitude all of the time through the movie. 
  2. Courage – Paddington bravely faces the chef in prison. He bravely chases the intruder into the store at the start of the film. He bravely escapes. He shows constant courage.
  3. Family – Paddington is part of the family but when in prison, the family are so busy trying to clear his name that they forget to visit. He thinks they have abandoned him. When he escapes from prison, he phones home from a telephone box. There is no answer and Paddington leaves a message and walks away, sad. But then as he’s walking away the phone box rings when the family ring back and he is reunited.
  4. Fun – the family have great fun together and adventures. Mr Brown seems a bit boring at times but he quickly throws off the boring and embraces the fun and adventure. God is calling us to do the same!
  5. Good wins out over evil – of course good wins out and Paddington overcomes the bad Hugh Grant! But even here there is redemption!
  6. Hope – there are some dark times in the movie for Paddington. Will he get out of prison? Will he be shown to be not guilty? Will his family help him? How will he cope? But he always has hope!
  7. Love – the love that Paddington gives and gets is a great example. His family show him such love when they are reunited with him. The prisoners inside show love to try and help Paddington. The ones that escape show love to Paddington to come and help rescue him. 
  8. Perseverance – despite everything, Paddington keeps a good attitude, even when in prison. Even when he thinks he’s been abandoned he keeps going and keeps doing what is right (it was doing what was right that gets him in prison!) Reminds us of the story of Joseph in the Old Testament.
  9. Seeing the best in others – Paddington even manages to see the best of people in the prison and sees a great change there both with inmates (especially the cook!) and the warders.
  10. The difference one life can make to the world – at the start of the movie, Paddington heads out along his road. All the way along he helps people and they help him – with the paper, with remembering their keys, with meeting others. Later in the movie when Paddington is in prison, things are different and much less happy and friendly. It’s a little bit like ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ when Paddington isn’t around – showing the difference of when he’s there and when he’s not.