Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Julie Walters, Peter Capaldi, Sally Hawkins, Jim Broadbent, Matt Lucas, Samuel Joslin, Madeleine Harris, Ben Whishaw (voice), Imelda Staunton (voice), Michael Gambon (voice) and Nicole Kidman.

Director: Paul King

Producer: David Heyman

Having seen the teaser trailers for this film, I have to admit wasn’t expecting very much. This is mostly because I have fond memories of the Paddington Bear five minute animated short stories that were aired in the mid to late seventies. The programme stood alone with the unusual mix of Paddington as a 3-dimensional Bear against 2-dimensional characters and backgrounds.

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I’m glad to say that I was proved wrong and it’s true that you should never judge anything on first impressions. The film won me over from the opening scene which is shot in an old black and white scratchy looking Pathé newsreel (somewhat similar to Disney’s UP) where we see a very English explorer on an expedition to deepest darkest Peru who he discovers a rare breed of Bears. This is very funny and witty scene that sets the tone for the rest of the movie.

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We fast forward to the present day (in colour) and see a young orphaned Bear being brought up by his Uncle Pastuzo and his Aunt Lucy. They have an idyllic lifestyle in the Peruvian jungle especially when they are harvesting the local oranges to produce marmalade (because bears love marmalade). But when an earthquake strikes the jungle, Aunt Lucy sends the little bear to a better life in London,  where everyone is friendly, according to the explorer that visited them all those years ago. The bear is smuggled on a cargo ship bound for England, equipped with a bag full of jars of marmalade to keep his strength up.

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The bear finds himself on Paddington station and discovers that life in London is not what he expected and narrowly avoids being trampled by the hustle and bustle of the daily commuters. Sitting all alone on his suitcase on the platform station, he meets the Brown family and it’s Mrs Brown (Sally Hawkins) who takes pity on the little bear and invites him to stay the night in their London home. The family have difficulty in pronouncing his bear name and so name him after the place where they found him. Unfortunately, Mr Brown (Hugh Bonneville) is not quite so convinced and it’s going to take a lot to bring him around to Paddington’s charm.

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The film is as much a journey for Mr Brown as it is for Paddington, as he warms to the clumsy but loveable little bear and discovers traits in his own character that he didn’t realise he had.

I suppose it was never in any doubt that this movie was in safe hands with successful movie producer David Heyman at the helm as Producer. Heyman knows what makes the public tick and what they want in a movie following the triumph of producing the Harry Potter series and also secured awards for last year’s technical masterpiece Gravity (2013). Paul King who is more associated with directing comedies such as The Mighty Boosh and Come Fly With Me has done a wonderful job in directing and writing the screenplay for Paddington. He has managed to create a great story that holds your interest and makes you laugh as well as getting swept away with some emotional moments. There is also a sub plot that has been invented for the film version involving a an evil femme fatale taxidermist called Millicent played with great relish by Nicole Kidman, who wants to add Paddington to her illegal collection of rare stuffed animals. The director and producer both wanted Nicole Kidman for the role but her agents had decline any involvement from her. A copy of the screenplay somehow found its way to the Aussie star who turned out to be a Paddington fan and read it overnight and agreed to be part of the movie without hesitation.

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Both Heyman and King met with Michael Bond who originally wrote the Paddington stories back in 1958 and he loved what they had done with the screenplay. He was also please that they kept all of the original popular characters such as the Brown children Jonathan and Judy played by Madeleine Harris and newcomer Samuel Joslin, Scottish housekeeper Mrs Bird, a reliable turn from Julie Walters and nosey neighbour Mr Curry played by a cockney Peter Capaldi.

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Obviously the heart of the film comes from Paddington Bear himself, who is brought to life by the voice of Ben Whishaw, one of this countries busiest and most talented young actors around today. However, the first choice to voice Paddington was Colin Firth who had already recorded much of the dialogue but it was later decided by Heyman and King that although Firth sounded good, his voice didn’t seem to fit comfortably with Paddington’s character. Firth was very gracious and agreed that his voice wasn’t working with the animation and Heyman joked that Firth “Didn’t need the money anyway as he’s not short of acting work.”

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I always like it when a movie completely takes me by surprise and wins me over.

I give this a Foker On Film four out of five stars.

Certificate PG

In cinemas Friday December 28, 2014.