Paddington returns for another entertaining adventure
IT is incredible to think that a studio and publisher as successful and iconic as Sonic Team and Sega is how infuriatingly inconsistent their combined output is. On one hand, you have the classics: Sonic The Hedgehog 2, 3, Generations etc. On the other, however, we have Sonics Lost World, CD, and Sonic Unleashed .
Sonic Mania is by anyone’s standard a terrific game, bestowing the classic Sonic aesthetic with a tasteful and modern overhaul and boasting razer-sharp gameplay and slick level design to boot. Then, only a few months later, Sonic Team hits us with yet another disappointing Sonic excursion and the newly burgeoning public affection for Sega is again snuffed out.
By comparison to Sonic Mania, the controls feel clunky and the jarring switches between 2D and 3D are one of the many irritations that slow down gameplay to a comparative crawl. Classic Sonic is two-dimensional, while you take the reins of the Modern Sonic for the three-dimensional portions. The general feel of both characters are so vastly different that you never really find yourself coming to full mastery of the controls. The third type of stage has you controlling a custom character that uses a special type of weapon to channel various kinds of ‘wisp’ energy. While it certainly adds another dimension to the game, the combat just doesn’t ever feel you its gripping you and it certainly wouldn’t be considered overly challenging.
If you do manage to come to grips with the vastly different play styles, Sonic Forces finds another way to kill the pacing. Unfair obstacles are a plague in Sonic Forces, where sometimes you will have little to no foreshadowing of the next hit you may take or pit trap you may fall into.
One saving grace for Sonic Forces is that the boss battles are almost universally an absolute blast. Some are even quite challenging and the combination of the vibrant graphics and stunning backdrops make them quite memorable. My only issue with the boss battles is that there aren’t more of them.
Sonic Forces seems torn between allowing the traditional and brilliant Sonic formula to shine through and needlessly shoehorning in ‘modern’ features to appease an imaginary demographic. I can’t recommend Sonic Mania highly enough. THE bare necessities of a fulfilling life will come to you if you follow the paw prints of Michael Bond’s beloved Peruvian bear.
So sayeth director Paul King’s unabashedly sweet, wholesome and crowd-pleasing sequel that replicates the irresistible charm of the 2014 film, which introduced the duffel-coat clad hero to the big screen.
Paddington 2 is a lip-smacking, tear-jerking delight for audiences of all ages, which promotes compassion and understanding as the foundations of a truly great Britain.
It’s a resolutely old-fashioned message of hope and community spirit, and a nimble script co-written by Simon Farnaby never deviates from trumpeting the central character’s unerring optimism in an era of paranoia and selfish desires.
The pantomime villain this time is a scheming theatrical ham, played to the comic hilt by Hugh Grant, who dons a wimple and knight’s armour to steal hidden treasure that should have been claimed by an ancestor.
The actor mercilessly pokes fun at himself – note the floppy-haired portrait from glory days in Four Weddings and A Funeral on the antagonist’s mantelpiece.
Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw) is happily installed in the attic of 32 Windsor Gardens, family home of fuddy-duddy insurance assessor Henry Brown (Hugh Bonneville), his free-spirited wife Mary (Sally Hawkins) and their children, Judy (Madeleine Harris) and Jonathan (Samuel Joslin).
During a visit to antiques dealer Mr Gruber (Jim Broadbent), Paddington unearths an old ‘ popping book’ of London, which would make the perfect present for Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton).
Alas, the rare one-of-a-kind tome is expensive.
Unperturbed, Paddington cleans windows for neighbours and wields a broom in a barber shop to meet the price tag.
Hilariously vain, fading actor Phoenix Buchanan (Grant) steals the rare edition and Paddington is wrongly sentenced to 10 years for ‘grand theft and grievous barberly harm.’.
Behind bars, Paddington meets jailbird brute Knuckles McGinty (Brendan Gleeson), who ‘don’t do nothing for no one for nothing’.
The bear’s innate goodness weakens Knuckles’ resolve and they collaborate in the prison canteen to serve homemade confections to inmates.
Meanwhile, the Browns vow to clear Paddington’s name and Mary identifies Phoenix as a prime suspect.
‘Actors are some of the most evil, devious people on the planet,’ agrees housekeeper Mrs Bird (Julie Walters). ‘ They lie for a living.’
Paddington 2 is a delightfully entertaining romp, distinguished by glorious set pieces including a wonderful fantasy sequence inside the pages of the antique pop-up book.
Colourful production design is almost as vivid as the performances including a roguish turn from Gleeson and physical pratfalls aplenty courtesy of Bonneville.
Once again, Whishaw’s warm, soothing vocal performance tugs our heartstrings, adhering to the sage words of Aunt Lucy: ‘If you’re kind and polite, everything will come right.’.
King’s fleet-footed sequel comes right with a marmalade-smeared flourish.