As Paddington, the adorable marmalade-loving bear, hits theaters for the third time, thousands of people across the world gather at their local theater to watch his adventure through Peru in his quest to find his aunt.
“Paddington in Peru” is the third movie in the Paddington series. It was released in the U.S. on February 14 of this year. With a rating of 6.7/10 stars on IMDb, Paddington continues to bring smiles to people of all ages with his positive outlook and goofy demeanor.
Though Paddington 2 had better reviews than the first movie, Paddington in Peru does not follow that trend and fails to outdo either movie. Many critics claim that while the third Paddington movie was a good watch, it was not as entertaining as the prior two movies.
For many adults, Paddington is a character that they’ve grown up with. Paddington was first introduced in the 1958 book “A Bear Called Paddington” by Micheal Bond. Watching these movies brings back memories of their childhood, which holds significant and nostalgic meaning for them.
Personally, I had grown up hearing the stories about Paddington and I had a huge Paddington bear. This factor persuaded me to go see the movie.
Paddington in Peru opens with an adorable scene. Paddington is just a cub, reaching for an orange on the edge of a cliff. He ultimately falls off the cliff after reaching too far. Fortunately, another bear ends up saving him and takes him into her care. We learn that this bear is his Aunt Lucy that raised him in Peru.
The movie then fast forwards to a few years later, showing Padington with the Browns, the family that took him in after Paddington was sent to England by Aunt Lucy in the first movie. The children are now older and starting to prepare to go to university.
After the mother of the Brown family sees the children preparing to pursue bigger things in life, she decides it would be a good idea to take a family trip to Peru in order to spend more time together. They plan to visit Aunt Lucy in the Home for Retired Bears, since it was something Paddington wanted to do.
After the Browns and Paddington arrive in Peru, they soon realize that Aunt Lucy is missing and they need to find her. They set off to find her with strange clues, boats, planes, and a long journey through a Peruvian jungle.
Along the way, they meet the captain of a boat who claims he will help the family find Paddington’s missing aunt. Shortly after they set sail, it is revealed that the captain has a curse put on his family that makes them yearn for gold, and he is only helping the family for his own benefit in hopes that Paddington will lead him to gold, rather than his aunt.
After a lot of searching, Paddington, the Browns, and the captain eventually find themselves at a mythical town named “El Dorado,” surrounded by large walls and rumored to have tons of gold in it. The captain uses this to his advantage and tries to beat the family in to get to the gold first, revealing his true intentions.
After Paddington finds a way in before the captain, he sees that El Dorado doesn’t actually have gold, but instead has oranges. While there, Paddington and the Brown family see that this is also a village for bears, which Aunt Lucy has been staying at while she has been missing.
The movie ends with a charming scene of Paddington making his signature marmalade sandwiches for all of the bears to share with the oranges on the island. He then goes back home with the Brown family after spending some time in the village, leaving Aunt Lucy to enjoy her time in the village.
In all, this was an endearing and emotional movie that I thoroughly enjoyed watching due to the lovable family dynamic and endearing bear. Paddington in Peru is definitely a perfect movie to watch with the family since it is friendly for all ages. I even shed a few tears while watching due to the wholesome ending of Paddington going home with the Browns, even though he found his aunt.
It covers topics from overcoming greed to prioritizing family. Though I found some moments were dragged out and slightly boring, such as the long journey through the jungle, it was overall a great movie and worth the watch.
While Paddington in Peru didn’t give me the same nostalgia that the first movie did, it was unique and exceptional in its own way.
The end of the movie sets the stage for yet another movie expected to come theatres in 2027, along with a rumored TV show and stage musical.
