Film Review

Paddington in Peru (2024) — mildly charming adventure damaged by a reversal of its concept

Paddington returns to Peru to visit his beloved Aunt Lucy, who has gone missing…

How do you top the critical and commercial success of Paddington 2 (2017), a sequel that surpassed all expectations and scored a near-perfect 99% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes? If you’re director Paul King, you wisely move on to bigger Hollywood projects like Wonka (2023). If you’re commercials director Dougal Wilson, hired to replace King and continue the story, you reverse the fish-out-of-water concept and hope a fresh location will keep audiences happy.

Paddington in Peru finds the eponymous bear (voiced by Ben Whishaw) travelling from London back to his homeland, after hearing that his beloved Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) is missing him deeply. Paddington and his adopted human family, the Browns — Henry (Hugh Bonneville), his wife Mary (Emily Mortimer), daughter Judy (Madeleine Harris), son Jonathan (Samuel Joslin), and housekeeper Mrs Bird (Julie Walters) — thus embark on a plane ride to South America, arriving in a…