2017 Movie
Dir. Paul King · France, United Kingdom · English
Touching, hilarious, visually inventive, and one of the greatest family films of the 2010s
Proving that children’s entertainment can be legitimate art like any other kind of cinema, the sequel to 2014’s Paddington displays a stronger love for community and storytelling than many other adult-oriented productions. It may be cutesy and innocent, but Paddington 2 also uses its stunning visual effects and intricate production design to prop up a sophisticated story about discrimination, staying true to one’s self, and (most surprisingly) the prison-industrial complex. It’s a proper throwback to another era of family movies that offers something far more substantial to young children and genuinely moving moments for the parents and children at heart.
Paddington, now happily settled with the Browns, picks up a series of odd jobs to buy the perfect present for his Aunt Lucy, but it is stolen.
"[Paddington 2] has one out-loud laugh, plenty of sincere cleverness, vast technical ingenuity, a warm heart, lively performances and enough gyroscopic camera moves to make Max Ophüls jealous."
— Richard Brody
BAFTA
3 noms
LAFCA
1 nom
Emil Hofileña is a curator at A Good Movie to Watch. He also writes as a theater critic, with work published in Rogue and Out of Print, among others. He’s probably crying over a movie or an episode as we speak.
"Is anything as improbable as a "feel-good" movie that actually leaves us feeling terrific? How about two of them in the same series?"
— Michael Sragow