Paddington

This review may contain spoilers!

Paddington is a classic British family film that was clearly made at a very high standard. I would give Paddington an 8/10.

I think what is supremely important about anything the British throw a decent sized budget at is that it generally creates some of the most amazing cinematic work; take notes America. Paddington was a well paced, family oriented masterpiece; it had great humour and gags as well as an amazing plot about the importance of family and home. The music was whimsical and supremely funny; there was no better moment of comedy in this film than when "Hello" played upon Capaldi meeting Kidman. The visual style of this film was just great, Paddington looked brilliant, the tree in the house was great, and the entire house being divided up into a dollhouse was really a great touch. Beyond that the cinematography and editing flowed smoothly and looked great.

Nicole Kidman, who played Millicent, was an incredibly terrifying villain for a kid's film; she made me think of a young Cruella De Ville. Sally Hawkins, who played Mrs Brown, was just a huge source of energy for the film; she really heightened a lot of the scenes that she was in. Hugh Bonneville, who played Mr Brown, was a great leading role; he had a good arc about acting as a member of the family rather than the head of it.

Yet it was Ben Whishaw, who voiced Paddington, really was the source for all things good about this film. He brought such a naive air to the role and yet he was unabashedly goodly, I cannot stress enough how important it was to have a perfect voice for the role and Whishaw's was perfect for this lead.

My problem with Paddington is that there was very little tension for most of the film, you never really felt like there was much of a threat right until Paddington was falling into a chimney. In this manner the end of the film felt a little anti-climatic.

Michael Gambon and Imelda Staunton, who voiced Uncle Pastuzo and Aunt Lucy respectively, had very little screen presence and didn't feel like strong members of the plot despite their emotional introduction. Peter Capaldi, who played Mr Curry, felt very insignificant and was certainly a forced sidekick role; his role in the story didn't really seem necessary. Jim broadbent, who played Mr Gruber, may have had an interesting backstory but most certainly did not have the acting ability to feel like a sincere role. Julie Walters, who played Mrs Bird, was another insignificant role; who blundered through her two or three lines and then saved the day with alcohol which seemed awful to have in a kid's film. Madeleine Harris and Samuel Joslin, who played Judy Brown and Jonathon Brown respectively, were awful child actors and really didn't give great performances in the film.