Bear support: Oscar-winner Olivia Colman sings away in ‘Paddington in Peru’.
PADDINGTON IN PERU *** (106 minutes) PG
Eager to continue his quest for world domination, the world’s favourite marmalade-loving carnivore returns in all his digitally animated glory with Paddington in Peru, a fun family adventure that sees him leaving Britain for the first time in response to letters from his elderly Aunt Lucy, who is living in a South American retirement home that, apparently, has no internet access.
His ever-loving adoptive family – headed by veterans Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey), Emily Mortimer (Match Point) and Julie Walters (Educating Rita; Harry Potter) – merrily head down with Paddington only to discover that Aunt Lucy has disappeared into the jungle.
Encouraged by a devious nun (played by Olivia Colman, who won an Oscar only a few years ago), they secure the services of a river cruise operator (Antonio Banderas) and head into the wild.
There’s plenty of well-staged comic action – films like this can’t afford to actually hurt anyone – as the clan head into the jungle and the film cleverly unfurls a storyline about Paddington’s roots, a tact that delivers an unexpectedly moving moment in the third act.
When they made the first Paddington movie in 2014 the character was already a multi-generational hero of children’s literature, created in 1958 by the late Michael Bond (who died in 2017 at 91).
His popularity has since bloomed thanks to the films, so it’s no surprise that plans for a fourth film are already scrawled across the studio whiteboard or that A-list actors – including Hugh Grant who pops in for a funny cameo – are happy to sign up for a piece of the Paddington pie.
As a side note, it is interesting how comms technology is largely factored out of the story to allow it to work. Had Aunt Lucy e-mailed and video called her nephew on a regular basis she wouldn’t have missed him so much and the story trigger would have been kaput.
NOSFERATU * (132 minutes) M
Everybody could do with more quality sleep and the surest way to get that is to buy a ticket to the umpteenth remake of the Dracula story.
Gloomy, slow and not-at-all scary, writer/director Robert Eggers (who did a pretty good job with 2015’s The Witch) struggles to bring new energy to this expensive rehash as Count Orlock (Bill Skarsgård) and his army of rats arrive in London and infect the place with the plague.
To be fair, the film has received rave reviews and is shaping up nicely at the box office. But, to be honest, it’s lifeless.
CARRY-ON ***1/2 (119 minutes) M
A big treat for lovers of tightly wound action thrillers is this taut airport caper that features an absolutely ripper car sequence.
Taron Egerton (Rocketman; Eddie the Eagle) plays Ethan Kopek, a slack-minded security officer at LAX who becomes entwined in a dastardly plot to get luggage loaded with nerve gas onto a plane.
To keep Ethan in check, the nameless terrorist (Jason Bateman) has promised that any attempt to raise the alarm will pay out on Ethan’s partner Nora (Sofia Carson), who has just told Ethan that she’s pregnant.
The plotting is intricate and involving, putting it at odds with so many films nowadays where story integrity barely rates. Every action has a consequence, every decision has a cost.
Proficiently directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Jungle Cruise; Orphan; The Shallows) from a screenplay by T.J. Fixman, the film features a sensational single-take sequence where we witness the mayhem caused on a freeway by an out-of-control car from inside the vehicle. It’s a corker.
Catch Carry-On on Netflix, where it’s been going gangbusters.