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On its surface, Paddington looks to just be an adaptation of a beloved children's book into a movie also made for children. But after experiencing the incredible stories of both Paddington and Paddington 2 there is a lot more than meets the eye. Both Paddington films are genuine, heartfelt, and hilarious. Not just for kids, Paddington was made with fans of all ages in mind.
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Good evening. No, thank you. Yeah. This really shouldn't have worked. Before Paddington's
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release, the movie going public had preemptively judged it as a dull, unfunny cash grab of an
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endeavor because, well, that's what the trailers made it look like. Just another low-effort family
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movie to add to the pile. But 2014's Paddington and its sequel took the family movie description
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to heart and actually became two of the most beloved films of the 2010s. Maybe even two of
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the most beloved films of all time. What the devil's that? Marmalade
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Get it off! Yes, sir. Right away, sir. The story of Paddington begins in a series of books written by British author Michael
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Bond in 1958. British children everywhere fell in love with Paddington's gentle nature and naive curiosity
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making A Simple Little Bear one of the most well-known and well-loved fictional characters
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in British history. So like Winnie the Pooh before him, Paddington got his own TV show and eventually
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movies. And as is the case with so many other children's characters and franchises, the public
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wasn't too happy with the news that Paddington was getting adapted for the big screen, probably
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because we've seen so many other children's franchises get demolished by studio interference
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Looking back now, it's bizarre to imagine anyone actively disliking the idea of the Paddington
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movies. But things were not looking good for our marmalade-loving friend before the first film
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came out. Paddington was being written and directed by Paul King, someone known for creating more
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adult British comedies. He didn't have a single children's entertainment credit to his name
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and the marketing for the film relied heavily on the star power of the cast
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When the initial trailer dropped, it was fairly easy to dismiss Paddington as just another slapstick
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kids movie full of gross-out toilet humor and subpar performances. Sure, the effects were
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remarkably better than some other movies with a fish-out-of-water premise, but that was about it
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for the positives. It didn help that Paddington didn talk at all in the first trailer Colin Firth who was supposed to play him had left the project so Paddington was voiceless until they could find a replacement It really did seem like 2014 Paddington movie
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was going to go down in history as a blight on the beloved character's legacy
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It's called a hard stare. My aunt taught me to do them when people had forgotten their manners
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But as Studio C released more clips of the movie and reviews started to pour in
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it became very clear that Paddington was not going to disappoint. And once general audiences finally got to see the movie
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it was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that Paddington was every bit as heartfelt and charming
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as its book and television counterparts. There's something here for everyone, which is what makes
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Paddington a truly great family movie. King crafted a near-perfect narrative for Paddington's
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on-screen adaptation about kindness, acceptance, and the importance of community, weaving in humor
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only when it felt natural. This is a breath of fresh air for this kind of movie, which often
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relies pretty heavily on throwing jokes at the wall and hoping a handful of them land. Paddington
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could have done the same, but instead, Hawking wields jokes, sight gags, and callbacks with an
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impressive command of timing and restraint. And the jokes themselves are always skillfully balanced
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so everyone watching could understand and enjoy them. It is not going to rain indoors
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Oh no. The titular bear is rendered beautifully and realistically, with a level of emotion in his
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face that some movies released even years later couldn't reproduce. The artists who brought him
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to life focused heavily on his personality and making sure his appearance was recognizable to longtime
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fans without adding too much excess. And the rest of the cast interacts with him flawlessly
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allowing the audience to completely forget that Paddington isn't actually a real person or bear
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which again is a trap far too many movies fall into. Interacting with objects or characters
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that don't take up any real physical space is challenging. And it takes a lot of guidance from the director
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and skill from the actors to make things look believable. The Paddington cast took this in stride and managed to completely avoid a detour into the Uncanny Valley Which is all the more impressive when you remember that they didn even know what Paddington was going to sound like My name is
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Beg your pardon? And every member of the cast fits snugly into their roles
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Ben Weishaw, who ended up voicing Paddington after Frith's departure, lends the character
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a soft-spoken warmth that instantly endears the audience. And the human actors are equally as stellar
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especially Sally Hawkins as the quirky and spirited Mrs. Brown. Hawkins floats about every scene in a dreamy sort of way that tells us basically all we need to know about her character
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Hugh Bonneville as the scruffy Mr. Brown and Peter Capaldi as their nosy, disapproving neighbor Mr. Curry are also excellent
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And you can't help but love them even when they're meant to be antagonistic in the narrative
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Everyone involved seem to know exactly what they're there to do. They take the subject matter of the movie seriously without taking themselves seriously
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which creates this kind of magical atmosphere that keeps the tone of the movie exactly where
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it needs to be, smack in the middle of silly fantasy and real grounded sincerity. That might
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be the most challenging part of bringing a movie like this to life. Balancing a suspension of
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disbelief with a realistic enough tone to keep the audience engaged isn't easy. And King's Wes
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Anderson-esque directorial decisions cannot be overlooked either. Several of the more action
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oriented scenes are absolutely perfect. And the dollhouse sequence is nothing short of a
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masterpiece. It shows up fairly early on in the runtime and serves as both an introduction to our
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main characters and also an introduction to the type of directing the audience is going to be
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treated to moving forward. It's a cute and clever way to show the Browns the way Paddington initially
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sees them as a perfect, if not physically and emotionally distant little family. But the
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attention to detail in the simpler shots is where Paddington really shines
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King's style really elevates Paddington to a level of artistry seen in very few
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films today, and not just ones made for children. It all adds up to be a genuinely enchanting experience for audiences And the sequel also directed by Paul King is just as great It may even be better It did after all briefly overtake Citizen Kane for the title of highest rated movie in history
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on Rotten Tomatoes, which is quite a feat. What is your third favorite movie of all time
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Paddington 2. What? I cried through the entire thing. It made me want to be a better man
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But Paddington 2's release in 2017 is an elaboration on all the best bits of the first film
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The addition of Hugh Grant's character is delightfully unhinged. The choice to make the villain a washed-up actor who uses his characters as disguises
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is even more cartoony than the taxidermist in the first movie. But because Paddington 2 maintains that fantastical tone
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that exaggerated villainy works even better here than it did originally. The answer to the dollhouse sequence in the first movie
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with the pop-up book in the second, is equally brilliant from a visual standpoint
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and they inject a hit of raw emotion into it as Paddington imagines taking his Aunt Lucy on a trip around London
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And while the decision to put Paddington in prison could have gone terribly wrong in a lesser film
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Paul King once again managed to create something beautifully earnest with those same underlying themes of kindness, acceptance, and community
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Paddington 2 is incredible. That f***ing don't you. Paul King and the rest of the cast and crew came together to make something worthwhile
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Something that's as visually stunning as it is heartwarming. Something that understood and respected its origins
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without feeling like a boring retread. Neither of the films talk down to the audience, and in fact, they ask us to engage with some pretty interesting ideas about our society at large
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It's this level of quality and care that makes Paddington and its sequel succeed where so many others have failed
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The creators understood that in order to make a great family movie, you have to make something that actually appeals to the whole family
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On the surface, another fish-out-of-water style movie featuring a talking CGI animal shouldn't have worked
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But Paddington warmed our hearts with his ceaseless optimism in the face of unending negativity
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bringing the community of moviegoers together to celebrate a little bear from darkest Peru
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