We all know the Paddington story and its success over the past decade, not only was the original film StudioCanal’s most expensive production at that point, it was full-on-feel-good factor, and they followed it up with the mighty Paddington 2, which somehow cost less but found Box Office and critical success, especially for Hugh Grant’s exceptional character performance. Paddington in Peru, out now on Digital, 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD, opened in cinemas just before Christmas, and arrived with a less fanfare than the previous two – and didn’t seem to have the same ‘must-see’ situation, even for such a warm-hearted adventure.

For Paddington in Peru, the narrative setup makes a lot of sense, it picks up from where we were and expands the story – with things we know, and anticipated surprises along the way but for all the familiarity, the overall experience feels a little less adventurous, with a script that’s just not as sharp and snappy, and where they’ve opted for a slight recycling of Hugh Grant’s character setup – but with Antonio Banderas and quite the vibe of BBC’s Ghosts – and most disappointedly, there’s a strong lack of genuinely funny and silly moments, which is something we’ve come to expect from this franchise.

For the story, we’re taken back to Peru as Paddington needs to find his Aunt Lucy, after he’s informed she’s been acting unusually, and has consequentially gone missing from her Home for Retired Bears, and her disappearance appears to be related to a treasure quest for something unknown. On this trip, Paddington is accompanied by the Brown family for an escape from a home family life that is beginning to feel more separate than it used to, and Emily Mortimer’s Mrs Brown (replacing Sally Hawkins), hopes the trip will bring them closer again. This ‘holiday’ is also fuelled on by Mr Brown’s (an excellent, returning Hugh Bonneville) desire to take more risks in life.

Arriving in Peru, they meet Hunter Cabot (Banderas) and his daughter Gina (an impressive Carla Tous), the pair are seemingly friendly but Hunter is also obsessed by treasure, and when noticing Paddington’s bracelet, he tells them all about the lost city of El Dorado, a mythical place full of gold. And so while he initially discusses helping them, he’s got other plans – and is also haunted by the ghosts of his ancestors who want him to steal the gold for himself, and all these characters are played by Banderas, in a fun way. So, the adventure begins, everyone eventually gets split up and so forth. While there are certainly twists and turns, plus Olivia Colman loving her life as a Nun, some of it does feel a formulaic.

Yet, thankfully, the innocence essence of Paddington remains, and an important use of a ‘hard stare,’ but for some reason the upscale of high-drama and adventure takes away from those smaller slapstick set pieces that worked so well in the previous films. By throwing our bear back into Peru, and despite him not knowing it as well anymore, it feels like the ‘fish out of water’ element is removed, and those momentary quirky happenings don’t really occur. And, again, despite the narrative sense, there’s noticeably less natural humour and it makes it edge towards a generic animated adventure, without the charm of that lower key chaos.

Some big sequences do work, and you can see the spider setup coming but in the right way, the latter plane sequence is entertaining, and so are the rifts on Indiana Jones. The inclusion of Julie Walters is vital, as we follow her investigating what’s ‘really’ going on (while other events are taking place), but again I found myself missing the London streets, despite the warmth of the central elements. While Emily Mortimer is the substantial change, with her taking the place of Sally Hawkins, she does well in emulating Hawkin’s Mrs Brown, even if there’s a slight loss in dynamic, probably because we’d grown so connection to her and Paddington’s unique relationship.

Paddington in Peru felt like the first film of the trilogy specifically for a younger audience, and I wish there’s been more laugh out loud moments (the trailer spoils a lot of the setup) and that’s only emphasised with a sharp credit scene, which offers a reminder of how good what came before was. But there are positives here, and a valuable message sandwiched (marmalade no doubt) at the start and end of the film, in relation to Paddington getting a British passport. In this part, it’s a sincere human message of inclusion and feeling like you belong, with the correct understanding that you’re welcome here, wherever you’ve come from – something I definitely agree with.

Special Features: The 4K UHD disc offers a really nice ‘Making Of’ behind-the scenes featurette with everyone, which also focuses on the tremendous set design and costumes. It shows off the research in Peru from all the creatives, and it genuinely is a mighty set. And then you’ve also got the Story of Paddington in Peru, a great little tour of the Home for Retired bears, and the Brown’s house (and I did like the reuse of the ‘doll’s house’ idea to show an early story) plus Olivia Colman and her amusing musical number “Let’s Prepare for Paddington”.

Paddington in Peru is out now on Digital, 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD: https://amzn.to/3D659TE