In Paddington 2, remarkably, King and new co-writer Simon Farnaby have done it again: a delightful family-friendly twofer the likes of which haven't been seen since Babe times. Yet director Paul King ( The Mighty Boosh) and co-writer Hamish McColl held steadfast to the spirit of common decency that anchored the books, and the result was a real charmer, a modern storybook fable that made the Ben Whishaw-voiced bear a hero to young and old. After all, Paddington could have become just another bumbling, idiotic CGI creation getting into noisy mishaps, in the mode of Stuart Little or (shudder) Alvin and the Chipmunks. There was every reason to expect the worst when Michael Bond's beloved children's-lit creation first made the leap to the big screen in 2014. It's Paddington's impenetrable spirit, his striving to do right by the world, to "always see the good in people," even those who wish him harm, that is the biggest wish-fulfillment of 2018. Forget the fact that he's a talking bear from Darkest Peru.
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There are no "no-go zones" even a prison full of roughnecks can be a chance to help people in need. The furry little bear in a raincoat looks around his adopted home and finds, in the smiling faces of his neighbors, nothing but joyful spirits and good intentions. If only all of us could see the world the way Paddington sees London.
Wee Ol' Teddy, Marmalade: Ben Whishaw voices the perpetually well-meaning bear in Paddington 2.