Paddington 2

Paddington 2 is a family adventure built around kindness, tidy comic timing, and the pleasure of watching a small set of people take care with one another. By our assessment, it is unusually good at gentle slapstick and warmth without becoming mushy, which is why it has such a strong reputation. The limit is simple: if someone wants edge or cynicism, this is not the film for that mood, and it makes no effort to pretend otherwise. In practice it is bright, orderly, and very precise about physical comedy, from little mishaps to bigger set-piece business. Compared with most adventure films, it is less about danger than about decency under pressure. Paddington 2 is the sort of sequel that justifies itself by how carefully it handles every scene.