Paddington 2 - a perfect family movie

Christmas season means a chance to spend more time with the family and movie night is always a good choice. If you have a nice movie to watch, that is. This year, those of you who have children are in luck. 'Paddington 2' is a family movie you don't want to miss. Trust me on this one, as, for the past 18 years, I've seen most children's movies. In all honesty, I think I can say I can count on one hand those that were worth watching. The rest were just an excuse to stuff yourself with overpriced popcorn.

'Paddington 2' is one of those worth seeing first of all because it has an old-school feel, warm and full of real emotion. It's about entertainment. It has the lovable main character, in this case the bear, the clever villain, adventure and lots of humor. Good-quality humor, too.
My kids grew up with Paddington stories and plushies. We love the silly good-hearted bear from Peru, trying to make sense of the complicated life in London. Years ago, we went to see the first Paddington movie. I hated it! I found it an abomination to put toilet-humor and sexual innuendo in such a wonderful story.
It is very rare that a sequel is so much better than the first movie and I really don't know how was that even possible. The director is the same, Paul King, and Paddington's creator, Michael Bond, was involved in the production of both movies. Sadly, Michael Bond passed away this summer and didn't get to see his beloved bear in a movie that does justice to the character he created.
As for the cast – it's always nice to see the great Hugh Bonneville, but, for many, the treat is Hugh Grant, cast as the villain. Excellent performance, although I still find it hard to believe he got old.

I don't want to spoil the movie for you. Enough said that the story is good, it's fast-paced and builds up nicely to the expected happy ending. By the end of the movie we had tears in our eyes, tears of joy for the little brave bear. That says a lot about the movie.
Hint: If your little ones feel a little emotional at the end of the movie, wait patiently while the credits roll for the short funny extra scene that will bring back the smiles on their faces.
After the first movie disaster, I wasn't too keen on seeing the sequel, but luckily I found a glowing review in a newspaper. Hopefully, this post will make you want to see the movie, too. I don't generally to go to see a movie based on the rating it has on various sites, but I've just checked and 'Paddington 2' has a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Thanks for reading