A Love Letter to Paddington (Part Two)
Part two in a two part series on some of the best films of the 21st century.
A couple of months ago, I decided to write a couple of posts about the Paddington movies. If you read the first part, you know that I absolutely adore these movies, and Paddington 2 is my favorite of the two. Just as I did with the first movie, I simply sat down and watched the movie and jotted things that stuck out to me or made me laugh. I’m not sure how successful it was the first time, but it’s too late now. I said last time that:
This might be the worst possible way to write about these movies, because ultimately I think what I love most about them is how much love and attention and care is put into everything in making them, and this post could just end up being a jumbled mess like a Paddington movie could have been in the wrong hands
So, I guess with that said, here are my random thoughts about one of my absolute favorite movies:
Aunt Lucy and Uncle Pastuzo are truly the GOATs.
The neighborhood in this movie is ridiculously utopian, but if there was a 3 foot tall talking bear in a duffel coat, how could you ever be angry.
At the beginning of the movie, Paddington is giving a quick life update on what each member of the family has been up to since the last movie ended. He spends some time going over Mr. Brown’s midlife crisis. This led me to thinking about how the concept of the midlife crisis is dead. I’ve been in a “midlife crisis” since probably 2013.
The driving plot device in this film is a pop-up book of London that Paddington wants to get for his aunt. When the book is being introduced, the movie goes into a bit of animation to make everything look like a pop-up book, and it was just a really cool and brilliant thing to see on screen.
Paddington starts to try and earn money to buy the pop-up book. Is Paddington documented to work in the UK? Is Paddington old enough to legally work? How do these laws work for a talking bear?
Paddington uses the last name Brown. Does this mean the Brown family legally adopted him? What are the tax implications of this? Being an adult makes me ask some weird questions.
Really excited to see the band from the first one come back.
Hugh Grant is in this movie as the villain, and he is just a joy to watch.
His character breaks into the antique shop where the pop-up book is, and he steals it. Paddington chases after him, and at one point starts riding the neighborhood dog. It’s adorable.
How small would I need to be to ride Stevie1?
Hugh Grant disappears so that the police think Paddington has stolen the book. He goes on trial and is found guilty, and they throw him in prison. I still have so many questions about how old Paddington is, and how he can just be put in an adult prison with the general population.
Someone literally shouts, “He’s but a cub!”
The Browns are the best.
I raved about London as a film location in my Paddington 1 recap, but it deserves another shout out here. These movies are also just so good at showing it off.
The red sock ending up in the laundry with all of the prison uniforms is such a good bit. All the tough guy criminals with pink uniforms for the rest of the movie is just a really funny gag.
Brendan Gleeson as Knuckle McGinty is my favorite performance of the whole movie. When he introduces himself, puts out his hands to reveal that he has NUCKEL’S tattooed across his knuckles, I laugh every time.
The security guard at St. Paul’s Cathedral being enamored with Hugh Grant dressed as a nun is another really funny bit.
Marmalade is a religious experience in these movies. Knuckles’ life is completely changed when he tastes Paddington’s marmalade sandwich.
I also find it really funny when the Browns come to visit Paddington in prison and they meet all of his new prison friends.
I somehow forgot that they break out of prison, and it just really works with the stakes of this movie.
One of the recurring characters throughout the film is the judge who sentences Paddington to prison. There is a scene where he is with his wife and he is throwing a tantrum of some kind. His wife cuts him off and says “I want you to shoosh!” He just stops and says “Yes, Gertrude.” It’s another moment in these movies that a bunch of little moments build up to and the payoff is a great laugh.
The climax of the movie features one of those moments where you go “they can’t kill that character off in this movie, can they?”
Since Paddington couldn’t get Aunt Lucy the pop-up book where she could experience London, the Browns surprise Paddington by having Aunt Lucy actually show up at their house. It’s an absolutely perfect way for the movie to end.
I freaking love this movie so much. I could not recommend anything more highly.
Josh
Stevie is my cat, for those of you that don’t know.