With Hugh Grant, ‘Paddington 2’ simply wonderful
and the grouchy chef who doesn’t know that Knuckles begins with a K and not an N.
Grant seems to be having the most fun he’s had in years on screen as the overly theatrical villain, who debates his devious plans out loud with a room full of costumed mannequins that he also provides the voices for (Hamlet and Scrooge among them). And there are some wonderfully fun digs at the egotism of actors throughout, including when Mrs. Bird explains that actors are “some of the most evil, devious people on the planet.”
Sally Hawkins also gets a nice spotlight as the eager-to-believe matriarch who is compelling enough to make you really trust that she’s possibly gotten a lead from a newsstand parrot about who framed Paddington.
Is it too lame to get wrapped up in the messages in a kid’s film? “Paddington 2” has a lot of worthy ones — the importance of kindness, family, and, heck, even saving money to get a thoughtful gift for someone who means something to you.
It is a cheerful, sweet movie, where there is no problem that a lovingly made marmalade sandwich won’t fix, and it’ll be sure to leave kids and adults smiling and even wiping a few tears away at the end.
“Paddington,” a Warner Bros. release, is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America for “some action and mild rude humour.”
Three and a half stars out of four.