New Paddington Movie Received Mostly Positive Reviews From Major Critics
TWC-Dimension released their new family/adventure film, “Paddington,” into theaters today, and all the top,major critics have let us know what they thought about it with their reviews. It turns out that it resonated quite well with most of them, getting an overall 77 score out of a possible 100 at the Metacritic.com site.
The film stars: Jim Broadbent, Nicole Kidman, Ben Whishaw, Sally Hawkins and Hugh Bonneville. We’ve provided blurbs from a few of the critics (below).
Alonso Duralde over at TheWrap, gave it a great 91 score, stating: “There are plenty of laughs — and nothing that goes over a kid’s head to an adult funny bone is smutty or smarmy — and the sentiment never feels strained or artificial.”
Jason Clark at Entertainment Weekly, gave it a 91 score too, saying: “Paddington is fast-paced yet unhurried, serving up surprisingly subtle ideas on melting-pot urban diversity—Paddington is a stranger in a strange land, after all—and rich visual tableaux, including a gorgeous recurring shot of the Brown home as a living dollhouse.”
Betsy Sharkey from the Los Angeles Times, gave it a 90 score. She stated: “Artfully and cleverly, the sweet spirit of that young bear from darkest Peru and his many London misadventures materializes brilliantly on screen in the very good hands of writer-director-conjurer Paul King.”
Joe Morgenstern from the Wall Street Journal, gave it a 90 grade. He said: “This comic chronicle of a Peruvian bear’s adventures in London turns out to be a total charmer, made with panache, élan and generous dollops of marmalade.”
Mary Houlihan over at the Chicago Sun-Times, gave it an 88 grade. He stated: ” The filmmakers behind Paddington successfully bring the lovable bear into the future and strike a balance between honoring the spirit of the original books and updating the story for today’s young audiences. This is a charming film whose underlying message of tolerance and acceptance strikes a palpable chord in today’s world — both for children and adults.”
Kyle Smith from the New York Post, gave it a 75 grade, stating: “How English is this movie? As English as a cold, rainy day at the beach. As English as the politeness that masks hostility, as English as a pie that contains meat, as English as secretly wishing you lived in some other country.”
Peter Keough over at the Boston Globe, gave it a 75 score. He stated: “True, a lot of marmalade gets spread around, and at times the zaniness gets a bit too slap-sticky, but it’s all good clean fun.”
Walter Addiego from the San Francisco Chronicle, gave it a 75 grade, stating: “Suffice it to say that this is good family fare with plenty of decent gags (visual and otherwise), and it’s nicely acted by all the principals. In addition, Julie Walters, Peter Capaldi and Jim Broadbent turn up in smaller but still lively roles.”
Claudia Puig over at USA Today, gave it a 75 grade, saying: ” Whishaw, Hawkins and Downton Abbey’s Bonneville strike just the right notes. Imaginative production design, which occasionally brings to mind Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom,” adds to the story’s appeal.”
Peter Travers from Rolling Stone, gave it a 75 score, claiming: “It’s funny. So is Nicole Kidman, very Cruella De Vil as Millicent Clyde, a taxidermist with an eye on adding Paddington to her stuffed collection. It’s an excuse for some chase scenes and physical comedy (Paddington gets his head stuck in a toilet bowl) that manage to suggest both the Marx brothers and Wes Anderson. I mean that as a good thing.”
Michael Phillips from the Chicago Tribune, gave it a 75 score. He stated: ” Any movie that manages to work in a dig at the National Theatre’s heavier pretensions — in a subway sequence, Paddington trots by a National poster for a (fake) play with the amusingly dour title “Damned by Despair” — is OK with me.”
Leslie Felperin from the The Hollywood Reporter, gave it a 70 score, saying: ” It’s a relief to report that the final film is actually quite charming, thoughtful and as cuddly as a plush toy, albeit one with a few modern gizmos thrown in.”
Guy Lodge over at Variety, gave it a 70, stating: “Affectionately honoring the everyday quirks of Bond’s stories, while subtly updating their middle-class London milieu, King’s film may divide loyal Paddingtophiles with its high-stakes caper plot, but their enraptured kids won’t care a whit.”
Jeannette Catsoulis from The New York Times, gave it a 60 grade. She said: “In stark contrast to their furry, blundering star, the makers of Paddington have colored so carefully inside the lines that any possibility of surprise or subversion is effectively throttled.”
Finally, Elizabeth Weitzman from the New York Daily News, gave it a 60 score. He said: “Cute, mostly well-mannered and just a bit off-center.” Stay tuned. Also, get your favorite Movie stuff, and more by Clicking Here.
