Paddington

Plot synopsis:
An explorer named Montgomery Clyde (Tim Downie) documents his trip to Darkest Peru. He comes across a rather intelligent species of bears. Although he tries to take one in, he decides to bond with them and learns that they can talk and have a great appetite for marmalade. Clyde says he's learned a lot from the bears, and he wonders if the bears have learned anything from him.Years later, a young bear (voice of Ben Whishaw) awakens to find that the marmalade fruits have been produced. He excitedly runs to his Aunt Lucy (voice of Imelda Staunton) and Uncle Pastuzo (voice of Michael Gambon), the same bears Clyde met. The bears gather the fruits and produce their own supply of marmalade for their sandwiches. That night, an earthquake strikes the forest, wrecking the bears home. Lucy and the little bear hide. When they wake up the next morning, they discover their home is destroyed and Pastuzo is nowhere to be found. All that's left behind is his hat.Lucy takes the little bear to a ship and places him on a lifeboat with a supply of marmalade. She is going to stay at a home for retired bears while she sends the little one to find a home of his own. The bear eats all the marmalade until he arrives at a train station in London. He tries to find a home from anybody passing by, but they all ignore him. He sits alone with some birds, sharing his marmalade sandwich, when the Brown family walks by. The mother Mary (Sally Hawkins) spots the bear and immediately takes a liking to him, while her husband Henry (Hugh Bonneville) is less than enthused. Their son Jonathan (Samuel Joslin) also likes the bear, while his sister Judy (Madeleine Harris) is not very interested. They treat him to a meal, and Mary decides to name him Paddington.The Browns take Paddington home where they live with a relative named Mrs. Bird (Julie Walters), only for the night until they turn him in to the authorities. Paddington goes to the bathroom and puts two toothbrushes in his ears, pulling out big chunks of earwax. Curious, he licks one chunk, only to be disgusted. He grabs a bottle of mouthwash and chugs it. The alcohol burns his throat and he dunks his head in the toilet and cools off with the water. Paddington gets his head stuck and overflows the toilet bowl. He pulls himself out and turns on the showerhead. This causes a flood that fills the bathroom with water. Henry opens the door and gets caught in the wave of water. Jonathan thinks its amazing.At the Natural History Museum, a monkey is delivered to the museum director Millicent (Nicole Kidman). She has sinister plans for the primate, when the man delivering the monkey tells her that he spotted sticky footprints of marmalade around the boat. Millicent's eyes perk up, because she knows what this means and what the man is talking about. She takes a knife and throws it at a picture on the wall of Montgomery Clyde and the bears, along with a collage of other articles and pictures involving this expedition.During his stay, Paddington learns a thing or two about the Browns - Henry is a real estate agent, Mary is an artist, Judy is seeing a boy named Tony and is learning Chinese to run off there, and Jonathan aspires to be an astronaut. Mary notices Paddington's hat. She says she knows someone who works at an antique shop and might know how to find out who owned that hat.Mary brings Paddington to the shop owned by Mr. Gruber (Jim Broadbent). As he looks at the hat, a pickpocketing thief (Matt King) comes in and swipes the wallet off another customer. On his way out, he drops it. Thinking it's the man's own wallet, Paddington grabs it and runs after him. The thief runs away, but Paddington continues to give chase. He even gets a police hat and rides with a skateboard and umbrella to catch up with the thief, as townspeople and school children watch. The wind blows the umbrella up high, allowing Paddington to land on the thief and causing him to spill many other wallets he's stolen. The police arrest the thief while Paddington is praised as a hero, even though he still doesn't realize he just caught a thief. When he gets back to the antique shop, the other customers praise him for recovering their stolen wallets. Mr. Gruber then tells Paddington that the hat belonged to a guild of explorers, which is one clue to finding out the identity of the explorer.Henry begrudgingly accompanies Paddington to the offices of the guild, where the secretary tells them that there are no records on any expeditions to Peru. Paddington then gets Henry to dress up as a maid while they sneak into the computer room to search the archives. They learn that there were a few records on Peru, but they were destroyed. Paddington then accidentally jams the message delivery system with marmalade, forcing him and Henry to run.Millicent continues her pursuit of Paddington. She even gets help from the Browns' grumpy neighbor Mr. Curry (Peter Capaldi), as he is smitten with Millicent.At home, the kids start to bond with Paddington. He gets Judy to be more open with him, and he starts teaching her how to speak bear. He helps Jonathan build things with his father's old toys. The kids also give Paddington a bath, after which he shakes off all the water and looks puffy and silly. The parents notice how much the kids enjoy Paddington, to the point where they are considering keeping him around longer.Paddington is left home alone while the Browns are out. Millicent finds the apartment and attempts to sneak in and grab him. Paddington spots her and, with her gas mask on, he mistakes her for an elephant and runs away. In the struggle, they accidentally cause a fire from the oven. Millicent escapes before anyone notices. When the Browns return, Henry is very upset with Paddington and decides Paddington needs to go.Paddington leaves a note for the Browns apologizing for the trouble he's caused as he decides to locate Montgomery Clyde on his own. The Browns find the note, and everyone is unhappy with Henry for driving Paddington away. Mary says that he was the best thing that ever happened to the family.The bear goes all around town looking for people with the name Montgomery Clyde, with no success. At his last stop, he hears a woman's voice saying Clyde was her father. Paddington enters the home, only to discover the voice belongs to Millicent. She kidnaps Paddington and throws him in her taxidermy van. Mr. Curry sees this and discovers her true intentions. She also rejects his romantic advances and leaves. Mr. Curry then calls the Browns and tells them that Paddington is in trouble.Millicent takes Paddington to the museum and reveals to him that she is indeed Clyde's daughter. Because he failed to bring back the bears from Peru, he was disgraced and kicked out of the guild. He opened a petting zoo, but Millicent now wants to finish what her father failed to do. She prepares to stuff Paddington as the Browns (and Mrs. Bird) make it to the museum. They enter through the sewers to get inside and they kill the power while Mrs. Bird distracts the security guard with a drinking game. Henry heroically climbs out the window and finds the room where Paddington is in and tries to help him get out. However, Millicent turns the power back on and notices the family's wet footprints and realizes she's being sabotaged. Paddington is forced to climb to the roof through the furnace, just as Millicent turns it on. He uses little vacuums to climb up until they start to run out of battery. He nearly falls to his doom until the Browns catch him and pull him up. Millicent makes it to the roof and faces the Browns. She holds up a tranquilizing gun at Paddington, when he spots many birds near him. He takes out a marmalade sandwich and throws it in the air so the birds can fly around Millicent and subdue her. Mrs. Bird then opens a door and pushes Millicent off the roof, although she manages to grab onto a flagpole. The family takes Paddington home.Paddington writes one more letter to Aunt Lucy telling him about the latest events. Millicent was removed from her position as museum director and was forced to do community service at her father's petting zoo. She is seen getting a pile of poo dumped on her by a cheeky monkey. The Browns are doing better than before now that they've officially adopted Paddington as part of their family. He tells Lucy that he finally has a home. Paddington then joins the Browns outside for a snowball fight.

Tags: comedy

Review:
One of the late and great films of the year, Paul King's irresistibly warm story creates a sense of nostalgia whilst boasting a quintessentially British feel and pitch-perfect humour that can be enjoyed by people of all ages..
It didn't matter to me that myself and my husband were watching it without the cover of escorting children, family movies are probably one of the most satisfying things out there to watch when done as well as this one was.Cute is an understatement to describe Paddington Bear: he is simply warm and cuddly and I fell for him wholeheartedly.
Paddington feels real in this movie, as real as any of the actors.The ambiance of the film is whimsical, it mixes elements that are very modern but also capturing a bit of the old London where the original story is set.
But then, as the film goes, I found out watching Paddington is one of the best decisions I've made recently, and that is not exaggerating, because as I watched that little talking bear roam around London, I found the inner child inside of me who's been lost for quite some time.
Paddington truly is a surprising movie, and it surely is the best non-animated family film made in 2014.
The raw materials, a heart-warming, but lightweight children's story are not the obvious stuff of a great film,the hybrid real life and cgi high risk.
The film explains this noteworthy phenomenon: decades earlier, an explorer arrived in Peru, and, smitten with the bears otherworldly craftiness, taught them how to act as if they were civilized human beings.After tragedy strikes, Paddington's aunt decides that it would be best if her nephew went to find a home in London.
But Paul King's Paddington, based on the beloved books by Michael Bond, really does have something for everyone and is, incidentally, an utterly lovely movie about families to boot.
The young at heart -and even a few older, crankier people - will find much to enjoy in the film's cheerfully subversive script.Our journey begins in Darkest Peru, where a young bear (voiced with pitch-perfect charm by Whishaw) lives happily with his Aunt Lucy (Staunton) and Uncle Pastuzo (Gambon).
With Henry insisting that Paddington can only stay while he looks for a more permanent home, the bear begins investigations in London - unaware that Millicent, an obsessive, possibly crazy taxidermist (Kidman), has very specific reasons for wanting him to visit her museum.Strictly speaking, there isn't anything all that new or original about Paddington.
The narrative of the film is also little more than a patchwork of wacky incidents and hijinks: Paddington floods the bathroom while trying to come to terms with the "facilities"; Paddington apprehends a criminal through sheer good luck and his incredibly honest nature; Paddington and Henry infiltrate the top-secret Geographers' Guild to hunt down Mr. Clyde.And yet, King has crafted something quite charming and magical around the bare bones of his story.
Her fantastically manic performance as Millicent reminds us why it's a damn shame that she hasn't been in a comedy for years - she's so cheerfully unhinged in the film that she steals pretty much every scene she's in.It doesn't matter whether you're a fan of Bond's books, someone who only knows Paddington as a cuddly soft toy, or a neophyte who has never heard of this walking, talking, marmalade-loving bear.
Paddington is a big, warm bear hug of a film, one that will enchant children and tickle adults, even as it grabs just about everyone by the heart with its charm and humour..
It is obvious that a great deal of love and affection has been injected into the making of this film; the acting, graphics, editing, sets and storyline are all virtually flawless, and you must surely be a soul with no heart not to find some modicum of pleasure from this 90 minute magical movie experience.I have deducted one star, which may seem a tad mean after such a glowing review, but that is simply because my family and I wanted the film to go on longer.
Just in case there is the remotest chance that nobody knows......Paddington is the tale of a bear from deepest darkest Peru who comes to London and takes up residence with the Brown Family.
Based on the works of author Michael Bond, "Paddington" tells the story of a talking bear (Ben Whishaw) from "darkest" Peru who stows away on a cargo ship to start a new life for himself in London.
Once there, he becomes involved with a family named Brown (Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin), who take him into their home on a temporary basis, and a villainous taxidermist (Nicole Kidman) intent on literally "stuffing" the bear for an exhibit in a natural history museum.
Paddington plays like a modern British fairytale, and boy does this film brim with gorgeous colours, great actors and some truly great and charming CG-animation bringing the world's favourite Maramalade-eating bear to the big screen.Paddington is 'jolly-good-stuff' that is as British as British family films and comedy gets: full of down to earth yet relatable and sometimes self-mockery.
One of the UK's most famous literary icons gets transformed into a believable and modern animal that feels like he's in a story custom-made as creative yet cinema-referential; it has great charm and feelings reminiscent to the Harry Potter films in its giddiness, like The Jungle Book in the opening sequence, and the benefits of gorgeous London-based scenery that drives the story complimented by the occasional homage to the Mission Impossible movies.Paddington: I expected a kid's movie that would be enjoyable and harmless; it's charm may just about make those rough-gutted moviegoers out there real sick.
Although helping him find a proper home, the Browns start to attach to the newcomer but his negligent way of life and an evil hunter from a local history museum tend to interfere in their relationship, for better or worse.We're presented with the amusing and entertaining adventures of this strange bear which comes to a big city in search of a new life, but ends up in a lot of trouble, more or less due to his actions.
The Brown family with the great Sally Hawkins as mother and a sympathetic stuffy Hugh Bonneville as a father is full of hilarious absurdity.The Movie is one you can really watch and enjoy with the whole family and there will be no doubt that everybody will love it..
This is an instant classic.The raw materials, a heart-warming, but lightweight children's story are not obvious stuff of great film, the hybrid real life and CGI high risk.
Paddington is a surprisingly good Live-Action family comedy, the type that no-one seems to make anymore.It's like one of those 1980-1990 classic movies, which clearly targeted the younger ones, but - at the same time - they were interesting and well made and so everyone could enjoy it!The direction is very Anderson-ish and with pretty cute British vibes and the performances are great.
Visually it is a delightful CGI representation of the eponymous bear (politely voiced by Ben Wishaw) and deploys some neat cinematic devices; script-wise it combines humour, word play, and sharp allusions to the plight of the immigrant; while acting- wise we have a slew of marvellous British performers including Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins and Julie Walters as the adults in Paddington's new family and Nicole Kidman who has other plans for our furry friend.
The acting and voice overs were all excellent too, contributing to a thoroughly enjoyable film.Paddington is a great 90 minutes of entertainment packed full of laughs, action and adventure.
I enjoyed the pacing of this movie because it takes the "fish out of water" story that we've all seen before whether it's "The Incredible Mr. Limpet", "101 Dalmatians", or even as recent film "The Boxtrolls" and adjusts the timing of the whole thing in such a way that it almost feels new.
A bad gal in the person of Nicole Kidman comes after him with a plan as Paddington adapts to human and London life.This was overall a good family film with many wonderful and hilarious moments.
From the cast, the script, the animation and everyone else involved with this project - this film (and the sequel to it) come together to create a flawless story for all ages.Both this and the sequel are closely related and both must have been made either at the same time or with each other in mind.Like Disney's 'Peter Pan', the story is mostly about the kids and the titular character...
Those of us who grew up with the old BBC animation of the ADVENTURES OF PADDINGTON BEAR, voiced by the wonderfully fruity Michael Hordern, might find it difficult to stomach another version of Michael Bond's well-loved tales.Happily most of our skepticism was set aside: Paul King's new animated version is absolutely wonderful, with a witty script (by King and Hamish McColl), performances given with a light touch, inspired voice-overs and superb animation.The story follows the book: Paddington Bear (voiced by Ben Whishaw) lives a happy life in darkest Peru with his aunt and uncle (voiced by Imelda Staunton and Michael Gambon), until an earthquake turns their world upside down.
There's an English quirkiness and whimsicalness that carries the whole movie and provides many of the best comedic moments.Great performances by an all-star cast: Sally Hawkins, Hugh Bonneville, Peter Capaldi (of The Thick of It fame - here he is in a rare non-swearing role...), Jim Broadbent and Julie Walters.
I know this is pretty obvious but the CGI is pretty noticeable but yet I didn't really mind that because I really focused more on the films great storytelling that brought so much heart and feel good humor and characters that makes you wanting more until the end.
PaddingtonThe upside to adopting an abandoned animal is they have more issues than you do.Mind you, the patriarch in this family-comedy isn't too keen on finding out what those issues are.Unable to remain in the jungle where he was raised, a rare talking-bear (Ben Whishaw) makes his way to a London train station in hopes of being adopted by a family.As it would happen, Henry (Hugh Bonneville), Mary (Sally Hawkins) and their children take in the well-mannered wild animal, despite Henry's objections.Christened Paddington, the accident-prone bruin attracts the attention of an obsessed taxidermist (Nicole Kidman) who wants to display his hide in the Natural History Museum.With playful direction, remarkable character design and Booneville's hilarious turn as the cantankerous dad, this live-action/animated adaption of the children's books is surprisingly entertaining.However, having a bear as a pet takes a lot of hard work and bear spray.
Yet despite it's thread-bare plot and familiar genre tropes, Paddington not only offers excitement in some slapstick set- pieces that will surely please the kids, but King makes the film an interesting analogy of immigration, a hot topic in modern society.When Paddington (voiced with adorable naivety by Ben Whishaw) arrives at Paddington station, leaving his Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) and Uncle Pastuzo (Michael Gambon) after an earthquake destroys his home, the image of the tiny bear, adorned with a sign around his neck asking any friendly Londoners to "please look after this bear, thank you", brings to mind the images of poverty-stricken immigrants arriving at Ellis Island in the 1900's as much as it does the child evacuees during World War II, Bond's original inspiration.
He is taken in by inner city statistical analyst Henry Brown (Hugh Bonneville) and his wife, artist Mary (Sally Hawkins), and is soon causing chaos in their home.Evil taxidermist Millicent (Nicole Kidman) shows up about a third of the way in, intent on capturing and stuffing the rare talking bear, teaming up with grumpy (and randy) next-door neighbour Mr. Curry (Peter Capaldi) in what is the only contrived plot-thread of the movie.
Thank you.' Even though Mr. Brown (Hugh Bonneville) desires to find another home for Paddington, the family comes to love the charming, Peruvian bear.
Through a series of mishaps and misadventures, Paddington begins to search for the British explorer who discovered his family in Peru, but comes in contact with a museum taxidermist (Nicole Kidman) who has other plans for the rarest of bears.The premise of the story might sound ridiculous, but it is based on a children's book series and it works on the big screen.
This was a really fun movie with some great performances from the likes of Hugh Bonneville (Mr. Brown), Ben Whishlaw (Paddington) and Julie Walters (Mrs. Bird) to name a few.
The CGI is a little dated though.Pros: Light hearted and funny story, great acting, amazing voice acting by Ben Whishaw, Paddington as a character, a short runtime, and a great endingCons: Some slow pacing in the middle of the film and some outdated CGI
If you and your family are looking for a happy and fun movie to enjoy, go watch Paddington.
If you and your family are looking for a happy and fun movie to enjoy, go watch Paddington.
Paddington 2 releases this year and I can't wait to revisit my favorite bear in London.FILM INFO: Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy Directed By: Paul King Written By: Paul King (Written By), Hannish McColl (Screen Story), Michael Bond (Original Author) Release: Jan 16, 2015 Runtime: 1h 35min Studio: StudioCanal.
Based on Michael Bond's perennial children's books about the marmalade-loving, coat-wearing Peruvian bear who is taken in by a hospitable London family, Paul King directs a family comedy film funnier than most of 2014's comedies, despite being aimed at audiences far younger.
It stars Skyfall's Q, Ben Whishaw, as the voice of the eponymous bear, along with supporting roles from Nicole Kidman (The Hours), Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey), Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine), Doctor Who himself Peter Capaldi, Harry Potter's Julie Walters and also Jim Broadbent (star of every British film ever).I had low expectations for Paddington.
Like the adult-pleasing cameos from Peter Capaldi, Alice Lowe, Julie Walters, Matt Lucas and Jim Broadbent, Kidman delivers a performance the children will relish in a straightforward, obvious manner while the adults will laugh at the humour of the dialogue and visual gags that fly by just over their heads.Paddington is packed with plenty of subtle humour for those who pay attention: the frequent signs and posters on the periphery of the screen, the film references and genuinely funny nods to Indiana Jones and Mission Impossible etc.
Author Michael Bond was inspired to write the Paddington stories when he saw kids leaving being evacuated during World War 2 and this film has a subtext of the immigrant experience.Aided with a touch of Wes Anderson stylishness, this is a sweet family film but lacks the warmth of the BBC television series from the 1970s that were narrated by Sir Michael Hordern.Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw) is a young bear from darkest Peru who speaks English and loves marmalade sandwiches thanks to a British geographer who met his family years earlier.When their home in Peru is destroyed, Paddington's aunt (Imelda Staunton) sends him to London with a note and a suitcase hoping to meet the explorer who came into contact his aunt and uncle so many years ago.Alone and lost at Paddington Station he is taken in by the kind hearted Mrs Brown (Sally Hawkins) although her husband (Hugh Bonneville) is reluctant but the children warm to him and they name the bear Paddington.Hot on the heels is an evil taxidermist Millicent (Nicole Kidman) who intends to capture and stuff the bear and display him at a museum.As Paddington goes about accidentally causing mayhem, locals do not react to the talking bear, he is viewed as another foreigner.
Watching the movie made me feel nostalgic about my childhood when I used to read the Paddington Bear stories by Michael Bond.
Paddington is so much larger than life and so much a clumsy and unlikely hero in the books that any film could easily be carried by the character of the bear and his adopted family and their gentle and warm stories.
Paddington the movie is the big screen film all about well Paddington the bear whose quest to live in London is both heart warming and pretty funny, I do though find some parts of this not that great.
Featuring a cast with the likes of Hugh Bonneville, Nicole Kidman and Julie Walters the film you would think and many do that this is a great old romp and one for the ages, for all ages yes very true but I did feel this a little basic, don't get me wrong it is perfectly OK and I would recommend it but I still expected more from a movie with such high praise.Basically Paddington is a bear going to seek a home in London because his auntie told him to; we then follow him as he becomes a stowaway on a long trip to stereotypically rainy London where he comes across a family of various personalities.
Now don't get me wrong it is fun all the way through but still I feel this nowhere near as excellent as some proclaim, but take nothing away from it, this is still a satisfactory experience.Overall Paddington is a movie I would say go and watch, and if you have kids then even more so because not only you might enjoy it but the young one's will too.
Paddington (2014) *** (out of 4) Extremely delightful film about a young bear who leaves the jungles of Peru and heads for London in hopes of finding a family to adopt him.
1-You don't have to be a kid for enjoying it 2-It's better to watch at home, that theatre 3-Images, shooting, of good quality 4-Nice story: Simple but fun 5-Not necessary to have read the books in advance 6-Acting from the kids is great, the best from the film: Madeleine Harris and Samuel Joslin 7-You will see a different Nicole Kidman.