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Paddington in Peru marks the return of everyone’s favourite marmalade-loving bear in a new adventure that has lost none of the franchise’s trademark charm and imagination.

This time around, Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw) also grapples with slightly deeper and more complicated thoughts about what it means to belong, as he tries to balance the home he has found with his new family, the Browns, and missing his beloved Aunt Lucy.

But it still captures the joy and misadventures of Paddington with a deftly light touch as the Brown family head on a family trip to Peru to see Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) after Paddington receives a letter from the Home for Retired Bears suggesting a visit.

The third Paddington film follows in the fine tradition of its predecessors with its joyful depiction of the seemingly ordinary. The Browns’ Windsor Gardens home opens like a doll’s house as Paddington updates the audience on the family, while the paintings of Mary Brown (Emily Mortimer) come to life and Henry Brown’s (Hugh Bonneville) triple-laminated risk assessment manuals prove more exciting than they sound.

As well as welcoming the headline acting talent of Olivia Colman and Antonio Banderas to the Paddington fold, it says something that the likes of Jim Broadbent, Ben Miller, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Jessica Hynes are all happy to return as friends and neighbours for brief scenes, while Hayley Atwell gamely takes a cameo as Mr Brown’s glamorous new American boss.

While fans were surprised when Sally Hawkins chose not to return to play Mrs Brown a third time, Mortimer proves a seamless replacement with her warm performance as a matriarch preparing for an empty nest as Judy (Madeleine Harris) and Jonathan (Samuel Joslin) grow up.

Once the Browns (and Julie Walters’ Mrs Bird) reach Peru, they discover that Aunt Lucy has gone missing in suspicious circumstances, and they vow to head into the rainforest to find her.

Following on from Hugh Grant’s showstopping tap dancing sequence in Paddington 2, it’s Colman’s Reverend Mother, head of the home in Peru, who delights us with this film’s big musical number, which is filled with guitar-playing, dancing nuns and Sound of Music references. She also proves to be all toothy smiles and fretful eyes as she comforts the Browns in their worry over Aunt Lucy while warning them of the perils of the Amazon. Colman, as with everyone else, nails the delivery and timing of her lines, leaning into the exaggerated side of the comedy but staying just this side of too cheesy.

Antonio Banderas is very much on board too, twinkling as boat captain Hunter Cabot, who agrees to take Paddington and the Browns on their dangerous quest with the help of his daughter Gina (Carla Tous). This swashbuckling role is everything he should have had when he was criminally wasted in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. And with the bonus of Paddington’s magic, he also gets to play all of the tortured Cabot ancestors who haunt him, in a move that borrows heavily (but respectfully) from Kind Hearts and Coronets.

While Paddington in Peru might have put the Browns in a rather wilder climes than west London – and to exciting effect – it still firmly keeps to the spirit of what has previously worked, with very British humour, understatement and scrapes.
Paddington gets tied up in a relatable struggle with a hammock, for example, while – in a nod to all the grown-ups watching and enjoying – the boat’s emergency supplies are seen to be a cocktail-making kit.

The climax of the movie, if a little overlong, nevertheless ratchets up the stakes and danger with boulders, daring plane chases and some shocking revelations.
It also allows Paddington to crack out his best hard stare to date – a look so fierce it actually makes its recipient queasy.

Paddington in Peru is an impressive feature film directorial debut for Dougal Wilson, ably supported by a solid writing and story team and a cast where everyone knows exactly what type of film there are in – and relishes it.

While it might not quite reach the dizzying heights of Paddington 2, the rich detail, gorgeous design and quality writing and performances still elevate it to among the best films being produced now.

And – this can’t be emphasised enough – stay to the very end!

Paddington in Peru is in cinemas from Friday 8 November.

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