Paddington 2

I fell in love with this furry little ball of energy right from the first time I saw Paddington. Though many a times I was made fun of at home, for wanting to see animated bears parading around London , instead of wanting to watch actual bears in Discovery Channel. But it was not just the bear , or the wonderful animation that drew me to it - but it was the heartfelt messages that the story conveyed or how small nuances in the story gives hope and joy in life. 

Most times sequels dont turn out to be as good as the first one, because it is mostly because they are trying to stretch a good story into a bubble gum that has lost its flavour. Take Frozen 2 for example - sometimes you wish they had never made the sequel - especially when you have sit through a love ballad (that never ends) sung by Cristoff. But that was not the case with Paddington 2. It was just as warm and cozy as Part 1 - if not more.

I dont go by ratings or reviews - because you know what - you can just about critize anything and everything and can find faults in even the most best thing. 

The story line is very simple. The story starts off to show just how Paddington has made the lives of people that he interacts with much livelier and fuller just by being the sweet , well mannered and caring bear that he is. His antique-store-owner friend Mr.Gruber finds a box of trinkets for him to choose a gift for his Aunt Lucy. Paddington fancies a pop-up book that shows all the places of London. I particularly loved that sceen so much. As he opens each page, he imagines taking his Aunt Lucy to every one of those spots and their dialogues. It has been made extremely well I felt. Since the book is quite expensive, Paddington goes about earning much by cleaning windows - a well deserved humour break is introduced by the antics of this bear cleaning the windows - bringing in ray of sunshine and love into the otherwise grumpy Colonel's house. 

Their neighbour is an erstwhile self-obsessed actor Phoneix Buchannan , played most charmingly and authentically by High Grant. When he hears about this pop-up book accidentally from Paddington , he plans to steal it from Mr. Gruber's shop as he knows that the book holds clue to a hidden treasure. Now, this heist scene was a little over the top I felt - with nobody being able to figure that it was Phoenix and when he himself blames Paddington for the theft everybody just taking it up without a fight. 

Paddington is arrested. He is jailed and then follows a small tale of how he converts a bunch of gumpy hardened criminals into softies and makes the jail a very happy homely bakery :) I especially liked this part because this always gives me the feeling that a little love and good manners always can make the world a lovely place to live in. 

I loved how the Browns do not give up hope on Paddington and how each one of them in their own way try and find out who the real thief was. I fell in love again with the charming Hugh bonneville - coming right after having watched all the episodes of Downton Abbey. He see-saws still between wanting to be the responsible parent/adult and sometimes giving into this free spirited self of pre-kids.

Paddington's friends plan and break out the jail ( a bit over the top this one too - but hey, it is a movie - what do you expect ? so just sit back enjoy the fantasy a bit more).. and Paddington in a typically movie style finish - manages to expose that Phoenix is the true thief and redeems his name. 

Paddington who gets hurt while trying to rescue the pop-up book , wakes up after a few days to realize that the Brown family and all the friends in the neighbourhood whose lives he had brightened just by his presence have pooled in to give him the best surprise possible - getting Aunt Lucy to London. 

Wait - that is not the end - the best is yet to come. Phoenix also gets his life time dream come true by entertaining the prisioners with his solo musical act. 

So, in the end all's well that end's well. As always these children movies leave me with a very warm feeling in my heart and I keep smiling for some days to come. 

Certianly in this stress filled world of adults , where we are always running after something, trying to be "RIGHT" all the time, judging things and trying to comprehend more than we should - taking this small mindless break and going back to our very roots - that at the end of the day - it is just life and it is people and small things that matter at the end .. makes me freel refreshed.