Step Aside Harry Potter, There's A New Most British Franchise On The Horizon

Mad Eye Moody, Mrs Weasley, Professor Slughorn. Three characters from the Harry Pottor franchise whose actors also appear in the hilarious Paddington 2. This surely is a sign that the Paddington franchise could be the next big British thing. This, of course, is not a review of 2016's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them but it does require the context of my summarised thoughts on the latest tour around JK Rowling's brain. I was excited to jump back into this world, especially on film as I am one of the few heathens that prefer the cinematic exploits of these young wizards to the literary phenomenon they began their fame with. My anticipation was met with a rather dull, soulless imitation of the Potter magic, with no actors that even compare to the talent in its predecessors. The one exception to this is perhaps Colin Farrell, who unfortunately will not be reprising his role in the sequel, removing the only performance I really loved from the franchise moving forward. Next year we will be treated to a Potterverse story revolving around a relatively young Dumbledore, as played by the ever wooden Jude Law, and Johnny Depp's ridiculous looking Gellart Grindelwald in 2018's Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Perhaps it is the clunky title or my lack of enthusiasm for any of the film's cast that causes me to predict that this movie will be disappointing at best. As Voldemort once declared, "Harry Potter is dead!"

The death of such a beloved series leaves a vacuum, in this case Hollywood finds itself in need of a wholesome, very British franchise. Paddington had answered this call. Casting such talent as Hugh Bonneville and Ben Wishaw, Paddington and its sequel has the caliber of acting that Harry Potter worked with but uses it in a different way. Simon Farnaby's writing and Paul King's directorial style makes use of these talented British actors through their impeccable comic timing. Brendan Gleeson in particular is a stand out in this film with his hilarious portrayal of an angry prison chef. A surprise performance comes from Hugh Grant, who hasn't done much in the way of memorable, quality performances for quite a while. In this film he really shines as a comedic presence, especially with his moments in his secret attic where he keeps mannequins of past parts his character has played and talks to them in their voices. Paddington 2, whilst side-splitting, does spread the jokes a bit further in order to pursue a thicker plot than the first, but that doesn't stop it surpassing the original with its better story and deeper character moments. This film really could become a family classic and if a third is released we would have a family friendly trilogy to rival Toy Story. This goose has so many teeth, rows and rows and I hope to God that the success of this franchise surpasses that of the Fantastic Beasts and How to Make Boring Spin-Offs movies.