Paddington Bear (now fully going by Paddington Brown) is back.

Now, well settled in life in London, the bear from deepest, darkest Peru, finds himself taking on a number of jobs in an attempt to raise money to buy Aunt Lucy a present for her 100th birthday. The item he has his eye on is an antique pop-up book of London, designed by a former member of a travelling circus.

Standing in his way however, is Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant) – a former star actor, now reduced to starring in dog food commercials.  And when the book is stolen by a mysterious stranger, Paddington finds himself in an adventure to find the secrets of the book, and unmask the thief.

In terms of family films, they don’t come much better than this. It is genuinely funny, heartwarming, and moving. The returning characters (Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters and co) all play their parts (although reduced from the original) and the new characters all perfectly suit the style of the film.

However, above all of this, is Hugh Grant. Grant absolutely steals every single scene that he is in. His turn as the egotistical former star, who  has drifted into madness is an absolute treat and should not be missed.

Paul King also returns as both writer and director and has already been named as the same for the third Paddington film that is being developed.