In spite of a lackluster marketing campaign whose greatest achievement was the “Creepy Paddington” meme, 2015’s Paddington was one of the best surprises of the year. Paul King’s adaptation of the classic character was distinctly British in its humor, but universal in its emotional core where a lost little bear found a family. Sequels are always tough and tend to result in diminishing returns, but Paddington 2 is even better than the original. Rather than try to rehash old jokes or coast on goodwill from the first movie, Paddington 2 feels even more fully realized with a strong sense of identity and presence. At its basic level, it’s just Paddington getting into mischief and being nice to everyone, and yet it’s amazing how far that goes thanks to the film’s wit and King’s vibrant direction that comes off like Wes Anderson for kids. If you want to start the year off right, you need to see Paddington 2.

Paddington Brown (Ben Whishaw) wants to get the perfect birthday present for his Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton), and he thinks he’s found it when he comes across a pop-up book featuring landmarks of London. However, the book is an antique and costs £1,000, so Paddington resolves to get a window washing job so he can afford the book. The night before he’s about to reach his goal, the Brown family visits a carnival where they meet washed-up actor Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant). Paddington reveals to Phoenix the book he’s about to buy, and Phoenix realizes the antique is far more valuable than £1,000. When a mysterious figure breaks into the antique shop and steals the book, Paddington is framed for the theft and sent to prison. The Brown family must figure out how to prove his innocence while Paddington tries to make the best of being incarcerated.

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Image via Warner Bros.

There’s nothing particularly grandiose about Paddington 2, and yet its beauty is in its simplicity. It’s incredibly difficult to show the value of kindness without coming off as mawkish or preachy, but King gets seemingly infinite mileage out of his overly polite, literal-minded bear. The entire movie is really about how it’s good to be good, and while that may seem painfully simple and boring, it’s absolutely wonderful within the context of the film. We see how Paddington has a profound effect on his neighbors by knowing them so well, caring about their needs, and trying to make their days a little better. The year has just begun, but I know one of my favorite scenes of 2018 is Paddington deciding to wash a grumpy neighbor’s windows for free, which literally and figuratively brings light into that neighbor’s life.

The confidence on display is astounding. King, recognizing that audiences went for his brand of humor on the first Paddington, feels confident enough to go even further in his title character’s antics. There’s not a single mean-spirited moment in Paddington, and it always knows how to be perfectly silly. The picture-book prison could have easily gone off the rails, but since any embellishment on prison life is bound to be silly, King goes all in, dressing the prisoners in pink-and-black uniforms (following a laundry mishap caused by Paddington) and eventually has all the inmates become Paddington’s buddies.

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Image via Warner Bros.

This is the kind of movie where if a gigantic smile isn’t plastered on your face throughout the entire runtime, you may want to see if you’re dead inside. The movie is joy incarnate with everyone doing the most with their characters. Special credit though has to go to Hugh Grant, who has found a nice new phase in his career where, leaving dashing leads behind, he’s free to play more interesting characters like Phoenix Buchanan. Phoenix may be a ridiculous villain, an actor who uses his talents to become a master of disguise, but Grant looks like he’s having a ball. He may not be getting the romantic lead anymore, but between films like this, Florence Foster Jenkins, and Cloud Atlas, he’s getting better roles and making the most of them.

But arguably the even bigger star here is King. He didn’t do any features between the Paddington installments, but he’s left such an indelible stamp that it would be tough to see anyone else take the reins of this franchise. His scripting, with co-writer Simon Farnaby, is so sharp that even when you can see the clear set-ups and pay-offs coming from a mile away, you still admire their execution. Yes, when Jonathan Brown (Samuel Joslin) starts off the film by denying his love of steam trains, you can see where that arc is going to go, but you don’t mind because it’s somebody embracing their love of steam trains.

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Image via Warner Bros.

The term “feel-good” movie gets tossed around a lot, but Paddington 2 will make you feel marvelous. When Paddington quotes his Aunt Lucy’s wisdom by saying, “If we’re kind and polite, everything will be alright,” you believe him. There’s not an ounce of cynicism in this movie and yet it’s never cloying. That’s a remarkable feat that shows this character and his world, through the astonishing lens of King and his cast, has serious staying power. Being kind and polite is all well and good, but starting every year with a new Paddington movie wouldn’t hurt either.

Rating: A

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