Paddington - DVD

Movie: Many years ago, in darkest Peru, an explorer discovers a rare species of bear that not only behaves extremely human, but also has the ability to learn human language. He befriends a pair of bears and spends a lot of time with them. But what he has discovered remains a secret to the rest of the world. That changes when, after a devastating earthquake, only the bear's grandmother and her young grandson are left alive. In order to offer the little one a reasonable life in safety, the old bear sends her grandson to London. But when he arrives in England many days and several jam jars later, nothing is as the explorer once described it. Finding a new family here is likely to be extremely difficult. But then the bear meets the Browns, who take him in against the will of his father Henry (Hugh Bonneville) and christen him Paddington. With the Browns' help, Paddington sets out to find the old explorer, hoping to find a permanent home with him. Until that happens, the bear wreaks havoc on the Browns' home, so much so that Henry wants to send him off to an orphanage. But his wife (Sally Hawkins) and his two children convince him that they absolutely have to help Paddington. And time is running out, because a nasty taxidermist (Nicole Kindman) has her sights set on this rare bear and is doing everything in her power to stuff him for her collection...

The stories about Paddington the bear, dreamed up by British writer Michael Bond, have enjoyed enormous popularity for over five decades now, and not just in Britain. In several books, a puppet series and a cartoon series Paddington and the Browns already experienced several adventures together. So it was only a matter of time before Paddington made the leap to the big screen. Under the direction of Harry Potter producer David Heyman and Paul King, the lovable bear is now coming to life in a whole new way. But initial trailers and clips suggested that the charm of the book template had to give way to child-friendly chaos and rather flat claptrap. But fortunately, this impression turns out to be only bad marketing. For although there are a few such rather flat, overly chaotic scenes, overall Paddington is probably one of the most endearing family films of the year, with lots of wonderful humour, a playful set and a genuinely loveable title character.

It is precisely the visit to antiquarian Mr Gruber (Jim Broadbent) or to the Geographers' Guild that clearly shows the attention to detail that has gone into this. Here, as well as in the Natural History Museum, the film is a real feast for the eyes. It is simply a great pleasure to be swept away by the charm of the production and the many little ideas that make it up, and to immerse oneself in the fairytale world of Paddington. What's particularly nice about this is that the kitsch factor is kept within absolutely tolerable limits. Because whenever the icing gets a little too thick, director Paul King puts the brakes on. That's when some light-hearted humour comes into play, courtesy of a very affectionate bunch of pigeons, for example, or the Browns' quirky neighbour, played by the new Doctor Who Peter Capaldi. The perfect use of Lionel Richie's Hello paired with Capaldi's facial expressions alone makes up for many a rather silly gag.

The computer effects integrated into the excellent set design are also great. The fact that Paddington was only created on the computer is very quickly forgotten. His facial expressions and especially his eyes have really been given a lot of life here, so that it is almost impossible for the audience not to immediately take the little bear with his red hat and duffle coat to their hearts - no matter how much chaos he may cause. At this point we should also mention the good work of Elyas M`Barek, who lends his voice to Paddington in the German version. What is certainly due to the current popularity of the Fack Ju Göhte actor proves to be a real stroke of luck, because M`Barek succeeds very well in transferring the charm of the original into German.

Paddington may not be a perfect film, but as warm-hearted family entertainment with a high fun factor, this adaptation of the popular children's books is damn close. Therefore, for children from 6 years and all young-at-heart Paddington fans is the enchanting work: absolutely worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: In the picture, the great color scheme is particularly noticeable. This makes the already beautiful, playful set look even more inviting, and the emotional warmth of the story is also made visually palpable. Otherwise, the realization of the image can also please with a decent overall sharpness and coherent contrasts. As for the audio, the dialogue and music dominate the proceedings, with coherent ambient noise and some nice sound effects providing some surround movement. Good!

Extras: The film definitely deserved more here. Three mini-featurettes about the way from the book to the screen (approx. 2:57 min.), about the characters (approx. 2:15 min.) and the visit of bear Paddington (approx. 1:48 min.) there is only a also very short promo making of (approx. 9:51 min.), as well as the trailer and other program tips. The bonus material is available entirely in German.

Conclusion: Paddington is an extremely affectionate and playful adaptation of the popular books by Michael Bond. Even if some gags turned out a little too silly, in the end an extremely positive overall impression prevails, which makes the story about the talking bear one of the most beautiful family films of recent months. The DVD is technically very well realized, only with the bonus material the cinema success would have deserved much more. Nevertheless, there is a very clear bottom line here: absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp