Paddington, while being about a story of a family adopting a talking bear, touches on some rather interesting things. The film is clearly designed for children, but through its gentle humor and absurdist touches, it actually comes to discuss deeper things. There are still moments that seem to pander to baser instincts, but by and large the film is full of surprising charms, exhibiting a cleverness that is we tend to not expect from movies featuring CGI talking animals.
The film is about a young bear (voiced locally by Xian Lim) from darkest Peru. He is from a rare species of bear that had contact with a British explorer years ago. Through that explorer, they learned the ways of civilized people. When their home is destroyed, the young bear travels to London in search of a new home. He is found at a train station by Henry and Mary Brown (Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins). Henry wants nothing to do with the bear, but Mary insists on helping him out. They give him the name “Paddington” after the station, and offer him a temporary home until they can figure out where he’s supposed to be.
As it turns out, Paddington is a parable about the way people treat immigrants, with the titular bear’s sheer otherness standing in for the multitude of cultures that are in Britain today. The film touches on the casual xenophobia that can exist even within the diversity of London, and the lasting effects of British imperialism. But the film has a very gentle touch, and this idea emerges organically without much prodding. The film is mainly built on the much more universal idea that people ought to be decent to each other.
It’s terribly clever, though never overbearing. Even if one doesn’t read into the film at all, there is plenty to enjoy. There are times when the film seems to overreach, going a bit crass or a bit loud in pursuit of easy laughs. But for the most part, the film builds something rather charming in its quirky vision of London. Through Paddington’s eyes, it is a city of occasional magic, the film using a variety of devices to depict the sheer fantasy of the place. Director Paul King, best known for the surrealist comedy series The Mighty Boosh, deploys a more family friendly version of his absurdist humor. And it works quite beautifully.
Xian Lim voices Paddington in the local version of the film, dubbing over Ben Whishaw’s lines. In this capacity, Lim is called on to do an approximation of a British accent, and it gets pretty creaky at times. It can be distracting, but overall Lim does a fine enough job. It would have been interesting to see what Lim could have done with the role given more freedom, but what makes it to the film is all right. The mixing of his dialogue could be a little better, though. The live action cast is terribly good. Hugh Bonneville gets to chip away at the reserve he’s become so known for in his role in Downton Abbey. Sally Hawkins is impossible to dislike. Peter Capaldi and Nicole Kidman get to have some fun playing off each other.
Paddington is just really sweet. Whether or not you buy into the sneaky political sentiments of the film, one can just still enjoy this largely silly story of a talking bear getting lost in London. It can still lapse into the kind of frantic comedy that has defined children’s entertainment over the last few years, but for the most part it builds on something much more clever. It brings to life the London in our heads, the strange, magical city built on refined civility. It’s often a beautiful thing.
My Rating:
