Paddington - reviews of 'warm, witty' film adaptation

What you need to know

The film adaptation of Michael Bond's children's classic, Paddington, has opened in UK cinemas. The comedy, co-written and directed by Paul King (The Mighty Boosh), stars Ben Whishaw as the voice of Paddington bear, with Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Peter Capaldi and Nicole Kidman.

The story follows a young bear who heads to London in search of a new life after an earthquake destroys his home in "Darkest Peru". Lost and alone, he is befriended by an English family at Paddington train station, but his happy prospects are threatened by a sinister taxidermist.

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What the critics like

The film is "a total delight, as warm and welcome as a hot pair of socks on a winter morning" and also enormously funny in an unmistakably British way, says Robbie Collin in the Daily Telegraph. The instruction "please look after this bear" has been heeded.

This live-action revamp of Paddington's exploits has been jazzed up with action set-pieces, a generous helping of peril and "the kind of irreverent comedy that charms children and adults", says Wende Ide in The Times. The heart of this sweet-natured ursine klutz beats strong and true in a film, which is also sticky, furry love letter to London.

"Marma-laden with gloriously silly jokes, pitch-perfect performances and incidental detail, this is a warm, witty and wondrously inventive great big bear-hug of a movie," says Chris Hewitt Empire. Consistently funny, surprising and with a heart as big as its hero's appetite, it deserves to be the start of a new franchise

What they don't like

It's a film of considerable charm but "undermined by a very bitty and flimsy screenplay", says Geoffrey MacNab in The Independent. Writer-director Paul King has more flair for comic set-pieces than he does for sustained narrative, and if Paddington is to turn into a movie franchise, far more attention will need to be paid to the storytelling.