How much did the family and I enjoy 'Paddington'. What a joy and a treat.
Since it was so in tune with previous manifestations, my wife and I were able to revel in the childhood memories that it evoked. Whilst I laughed out louder than any child in the cinema; something that made my wife less happy (and seemed to scare the child in the family sitting in front of us). Afterwards, my youngest lad could not stop thanking us for taking him.
The extra Peruvian backstory material was very clever in laying down an explanation of later narrative points (e.g. how can a bear talk) whilst never resorting to Basil Exposition. With reflections upon the welcome that Britain gives to aliens from another country, and the feeling of not belonging (but wanting to fit in) and alienation when first entering new cultural or institutional surroundings, the film commented upon very contemporary matters of debate.
There are lines and visual gags aplenty: e.g. the name of the location in front of which Mrs Brown encounters Paddington for the very first time, synchronised tail-wagging during the Tube escalator ride, the cheap unfashionable decor in Mr Curry's home that is totally in step with his frugal personality, Honeypot's company car visual pun to name a few. And then there are also in-joke references to other movies such as 'Raiders of the Lost Ark', 'Mission Impossible', and more. Indeed, this is highly reminiscent of the high standard of the equivalent tricks used in the Shaun the Sheep movies.
The laughs recede in the last half-hour, but only because the threat value increases and the thriller plot becomes more significant.
Hugh Bonneville perfectly pitched the right balance between risk-averse anxious parent and family hero in another of those understated performances he gives. Julie Walters provided great comic as well as the singular moment of relief at the film's climax. Sally Hawkins absolutely nailed teenager's Mum and bohemian, part source of embarrassment for her daughter, part counterweight to her husband's literalism.
The movie has only one or two minor blemishes for me. I am tired of Jim Broadbent's 'let me do something exaggeratedly unusual' shtick, and the underlying sexual suggestions made in the drag scene felt oddly out of sorts with the general tenor of the whole. (An appropriately hard Paddington stare is in order at this point)
But overall this was a delight of a film, and I am already hoping to see a follow-up.