Paddington in Peru sees beloved bear and Brown family head to the Amazon in search of Aunt Lucy

Paddington trades the hustle and bustle of London for the rich scenery of Peru. (Supplied: Studio Canal)

By Jamie Tram

At the risk of courting controversy, Paddington 2 is not a perfect film — but it was, undoubtedly, the perfect film for the cultural moment of 2017.

It was a family movie by way of Frank Capra, driven by an assured belief in the power of kindness, while simultaneously grappling with the loss of that faith within a cruel world. Against all odds, writer-director Paul King succeeded in making an intelligent, heartfelt movie on the objectively absurd premise of Paddington Bear going to prison.

Paddington 2 would become the most prominent face of “nice core”, a #resist-era taxonomy that encompassed new art about the goodness of people that was, implicitly and explicitly, a rebuke against the newly elected president, Donald Trump. Bolstered by its own timeliness, it quickly occupied a near-sacred spot in popular culture typically reserved for the likes of The Godfather, and achieved the kind of meme status that resulted in Nicolas Cage weeping over the film.

That period of time now feels like several lifetimes ago. Back then, Disney would champion increasingly pointless milestones about their first gay characters. More recently, the 'Mouse House' has made the news for cutting a trans storyline from an upcoming Disney+ show.

In 2024, nicecore, hopepunk and the general spirit that once projected revolutionary zeal onto kids' films feels practically dead in the water. In other words, Paddington in Peru had a lot to live up to.

The Brown family and Mrs Bird return, albeit with the odd unfamiliar face. (Supplied: Studio Canal)

The film has a strong pitch: airlift Paddington (Ben Whishaw, adorable as always) into an Indiana Jones movie and see what happens.

Its story kicks off when Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) sends him an invitation to visit her at the Home for Retired Bears; he decides to make the trek back to Peru with the Brown family (this time with Sally Hawkins swapped out for Emily Mortimer), and immediately discovers that his only living relative has gone missing under peculiar circumstances.

After digging for clues, Paddington discovers his aunt has seemingly become consumed by a quest to find the lost city of El Dorado, rumoured to contain a bounty of priceless gold. Paddington and his family hop on a ship captained by the dashing Hunter (Antonio Banderas, having a ball) and his daughter Gina, and venture deep into the Amazon rainforest to locate the mythical metropolis.

First published at ABC News, January 1, 2024

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