“Paddington in Peru” is as amiable and pleasant as it can be despite being a bit underwhelming at times. Although you may be disappointed to see that it does not reach the sublime comic level of “Paddington 2” (2017), the movie still has a fair share of joy and amusement mainly thanks to the game efforts from its main cast members, and you will certainly root for its gentle bear hero and his lovable human family.

The story is set in some time after what happened in “Paddington 2”. As continuing to live with Mr. Henry Brown (Hugh Bonneville) and his family in London, Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw) officially becomes a British citizen at last, but then there comes an unexpected news from Peru. It seems that his old aunt Lucy (voiced by Imelda Staunton), who has resided in the home for retired bears in Peru, is not that well, so he decides to go back to Peru for checking on his aunt, and Mr. Brown and his family naturally accompany him.

However, when they eventually arrive at the home for retired bear, the Reverent Mother (Olivia Colman), a nun who is incidentally the supervisor of the home of retired bear, notifies to Paddington that Aunt Lucy was gone missing not long before Paddington and his human family arrive. When it turns out that Aunt Lucy possibly went to a certain mysterious place somewhere in the middle of the Peruvian Amazon region, Paddington becomes quite determined to get to the bottom of the situation, and Mr. Brown and his family come to join his following search.

Of course, as an insurance company employee quite fastidious about risk assessment, Mr. Brown is not so amused to say the least, but he cannot say no for a rather amusing reason. The new boss at his workplace has often emphasized embracing more risk, and that is the main reason why he agreed to accompany Paddington along with his family despite his initial reluctance.

However, no matter how much he tries to be calm and confident, Mr. Brown soon finds himself taking more risks along with his family than expected. For going into the middle of the Peruvian Amazon region, he and his family and Paddington have to get on an old ship belonging to a local dude named Hunter Cabot (Antonio Banderas), and what follows next will remind you a bit of Werner Herzog’s two great films “Aguirre, the Wrath of God” (1972) and “Fitzcarraldo” (1982). It is subsequently revealed that Hunter has been obsessed with discovering a lot of gold hidden somewhere in the Peruvian Amazon region, and, yes, the object of his longtime obsession is associated with wherever Aunt Lucy went. As this troubled dude eventually becomes more obsessive because of those ancestral ghosts who have haunted him for years (They are also played by Banderas, by the way), Paddington and his human family come to experience something not so far from the climatic part of “Fitzcarraldo”, and that certainly brings more laugh and some thrill for us.

While things eventually become a bit more serious as Paddington eventually arrives at that certain mysterious place as expected, the movie cheerfully continues to hop from one narrative point to another without being too serious at all. After all, how can you possibly be quite serious when the hero of the story is a talking bear adopted by one human family?

Above all, just like its two predecessors, the movie sincerely makes a good point on goodwill and kindness. While he often inadvertently causes small and big troubles for himself as well as others around him, Paddington is a likable figure full of goodwill and sincerity to affect others around him in one infectious way or another, and we can still see why he has been accepted and loved by his human family despite his occasional troubles.

As usual, Ben Whishaw’s earnest voice performance brings a lot of heart and soul to Paddington, and his character is supported well by a bunch of good performers. Hugh Bonneville is a constant fun to watch as his fastidious character struggles to take one risk after another along the story, and he gives us one of the most hilarious moments in the film during one expected scene involved with a certain dangerous bug later in the story. Although it is a bit of shame that Sally Hawkins could not return here, Emily Mortimer is also fine as Mrs. Brown, and several other cast members in the film including Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, Carla Tous, Hayley Atwell, and Imelda Staunton are also solid in their respective supporting parts.

Just like “Paddington 2” is often elevated by the scene-stealing villain performance by Hugh Grant, the movie is frequently energized by the colorfully hammy supporting performances from the two certain main cast members. While Antonio Banderas willingly chews a number of ridiculous moments as often looking as unhinged as Humprey Bogart’s hero character in Jonn Huston’s masterpiece “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” (1948), Olivia Colman delightfully overacts throughout the film, and she even has a silly musical scene which will instantly take you back to Julie Andrews in Robert Wise’s classic musical film “The Sound of Music” (1965).

Overall, “Paddington in Peru”, directed by Douglas Wilson, is less impressive compared to “Paddington 2” in some aspects, but it is still recommendable for being funny and heartfelt enough to entertain and touch us. I do not know whether there will be another sequel, but I will not object to that at all as long as the franchise has its heart at the right place just like its furry hero.