Paddington (2014)

This is a film based upon ‘A Bear Called Paddington’ written by Michael Bond. We see Paddington become one of the Brown family after many exciting events, beginning in Peru and ending in Notting Hill in London.

The setting of Notting Hill is important because when Michael Bond wrote the story, many people from the Caribbean were moving to live there but were not treated very well. In the film, their neighbour Mr Curry treats Paddington in the same way, using racist phrases. The soundtrack is based upon Caribbean music from the same time.

It also makes reference to refugees. Michael Bond and his family had welcomed Jewish refugees into their home in World War Two. Paddington arrives at a train station wearing a label and carrying a suitcase, just like the evacuees did.

There are moments of sadness in this film but there are also hilarious moments too. The hilarious moments are aided by the use of excellent special effects. You will be convinced that Paddington is a real bear who finds himself in funny but tricky situations, such as flooding the bathroom and travelling down the stairs in the bath tub!

You will definitely like this film if you like the Paddington stories, films about family and comedy.

If you like this film, you should definitely watch Paddington 2.