By Justina Reynolds (from Cinema Under the Stars at Corfe Castle on Saturday 23 August 2025)
Families gathered in the grounds of Corfe Castle for a second time to experience a film in a way not many people get to. Sat under the bright stars, with the castle lit up behind them.
For the third instalment in the franchise, Paddington in Peru was missing some of the spark that the previous films had. With Paul King (the director of the first two) stepping back as director, the new director Dougal Wilson had a lot of pressure behind him. The absence of King was apparent, but Wilson made it work as best as he could, and still created a fun and emotional family film.
The change in directors wasnโt the only thing that made this film so different from the others โ Mrs. Brown was now played by someone completely different. Emily Mortimer was given some big shoes to fill, and itโs clear she gave it her all. She did not possess the same warmth that Sally Hawkins gave to the character, but she still played a perfect maternal role, showing a mother who was afraid to lose her family as all of them grew up and her children became more independent.
The film followed Paddingtonโs adventure to find his Aunt Lucy after she went missing in Peru but was stopped by a greedy family (including Antonio Banderas and Olivia Coleman) who were only focused on finding gold that their ancestors had been after. Banderas and Coleman took villainy in their stride, making their performances both comical and despicable.
With the first half of the film not being able to find its footing and not revealing much about the direction of the story, the ending still had that same, familiar warmth that comes with all Paddington films. It reminds the audience how important family is, and how easy it is to lose track of that as you grow older.
Although this is not the final film in the franchise, it would have been the perfect ending if it was. But, with Paddington 4 confirmed, weโre all excited to see what this lovable, iconic bear will get up to next.
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