It’d be delusional to think that Paddington had anywhere to go but down. Its 2017 sequel was so well received that it bordered on the cultish; whisper the words “Paddington 2” too close to a congregation of cinephiles and you might be accidentally responsible for a case of mass hysteria.
I may not be a card-carrying member of the Paddington 2 cult, but I’ll heartily agree that the series has been a sublime throwback to the quaint but rousing wonderlands of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, or Mary Poppins. Yet, regrettably, it appears director Paul King may have packed up most of that magic and taken it with him over to last year’s Wonka.
