Paddington Review: A delightful and charming family adventure that stirs nostalgic feelings

I understand how strange this might be: I am a grown, 22 year old man who is sitting down to review a film involving an adorable bear wearing a red hat and a rain coat. But the thing is, I remember growing up reading Paddington. I live in America and Paddington obviously is much more of a literary icon in the UK. However, I remember reading or having the books read to me as a young child and I remember being charmed by the bear's personality and his tales. It's why I was rather looking forward to his first big screen adventure.

Paddington focuses on the bear's first arrival to London from the jungles of darkest Peru. After being sent to live there by his aunt and uncle (Imuelda Stanton and Michael Gambon), Paddington runs across the Brown family, headed by over worried and neurotic patriarch Henry (Hugh Bonneville). Seeing as how Paddington has no place to go, the Browns offer to let him stay with them until he can find the explorer who discovered his aunt and uncle many years ago. During this time, Paddington gets himself into quite a few hijinks along the way, including dealing with a crazed taxidermist (Nicole Kidman) who wishes to stuff Paddington as he is a rare breed. However, he also breathes life into the droll Brown family, giving them a new take on life (and a newfound obsession with marmalade).

Now, as most know, films involving talking animals you love or even based on beloved literary classics usually take the characters you know or love....and update them with a modern output (see: them using modern slang, rapping, etc). However, what director Paul King does with Paddington is still retain the book series' charm, but just have the setting be placed in modern times. The result is an old fashioned, charming, and absolutely enjoyable family adventure that brought back the feeling of how I felt watching family films in my youth.

The cast is absolutely pitch perfect. Hugh Bonneville, of Downton Abbey fame, is perfect as the flustered Mr. Brown. He perfectly captures the character from the books but also gives him his own moral conflict: should he let loose or should he still keep his calm sensibilities? The rest of Brown's family are excellent as well, especially Sally Hawkins as the wonderfully weird Mrs. Brown and Julie Walters as the kooky and hilarious Mrs. Bird, who, along with Peter Capaldi, delivers some of the best lines in the film.

As Mr. Brown's slightly crazy neighbor Mr. Curry, Peter Capaldi (yes, The Doctor) gives some of the best lines in the film. His character just lets loose and chews so much scenery in every take, as he has a strange hatred of bears in the city. He's not alone though, as Nicole Kidman steals every scene that she's in. Kidman hasn't been in a lot of great movies as of late so leave it to a film about an adorable bear to allow her to have one of the most fun performances I've seen in a while. Kidman's performances reminds me very much of Glenn Close in the live action remake of 101 Dalmatians. Both actresses play over the top evil people and they just let loose and look to be having a ton of fun, especially Kidman in this film.

But of course there's the real star of the film: Ben Whishaw as the voice of Paddington. Originally, Colin Firth was due to voice the titular bear, but dropped out of the performance months after the film was shot and after he had done the voiceover work. He cited the reasoning being that he felt that his deeper voice did not fit the innocence of the character. When you watch the final product and hear Whishaw instead of Firth, it's hard to imagine how Firth would have sounded. Whishaw brings a certain youthful innocence that fits the character's personality. Paddington genuinely is curious about the world around him, and Whishaw captures that perfectly. The voice feels pure, full of childlike curiosity.

(Also, look out for a special cameo from the creator of Paddington, Michael Bond).

One thing I must commend the film on is the production design as well the cinematography. The film has a design that looks straight out of a Wes Anderson film. Every single piece of background is created with intricate and exquisite detail. I spent most scenes of the film (particularly in moments where the Brown house looks like the inside of a dollhouse that detailed what the characters were doing), just trying to get a look at what details and objects were put within the film. It's truly remarkable how great the film looks, as you'll want to spend hours looking at the details.

Finally, what makes Paddington work so well besides the well rounded cast is the script, written by  director Paul King and Hamish McColl. The script elevates the film, as it feels an old fashioned family adventure. In fact, while I was sitting in the theater watching the film, I could not help but have old feelings stir inside me, feelings not felt since I was young. Watching Paddington, I was reminded of the great family films I watched in my youth. I felt excited, scared, happy, sad, and a whole bunch of emotions I had not felt in a children's film in quite a long time. It excites me that there are family films still out there that DON'T have to rely on modern slang, that DON'T need tasteless jokes in order to progress or pad the story. It puts a smile to my face as I see that the next generation of children will have films that may invoke that same feeling.

Paddington is a delightful family adventure that everyone old and young can enjoy. It's quirky, charming, exciting, sad, and thrilling all at once. Young children and their families will enjoy this film, and perhaps it means that there is hope for great children's films.

GRADE: A

So how about you? Have you seen Paddington? Were you a fan of the books when you were younger, if you read them at all? If so, sound off in the comments below! And, as always, follow me on Twitter @filmfan108!