As with all origin stories, the first film had a lot to do within the constraints of a family film that had rather a lot to prove to an audience of cynical parents and bored young ‘uns. This film, by contrast, can simply get through by playing in the world it’s built for itself, but yet there’s so much more to enjoy here. This fake, storybook London is such a rich universe with endless supply of new adventures for the Browns. He accidentally lets the existence of the book slip to fading actor Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant), who promptly steals it and leaves Paddington to take the blame. With no proof that he didn’t take it, Paddington is incarcerated and must rely on the Browns to set him free. The metaphors for immigration and the big cultural melting pot of London are still here and, for those who appreciated them the first time around, they go to some darker and more heartbreaking places as well. We compared the first Paddington to Babe 2: Pig In The City – a benchmark for all challenging children’s fare – and those parallels are even more stark here. Pretty much every frame of the film offers something to entertain everyone in the audience, whether it’s seeing Brendan Gleeson or Peter Capaldi really make something special out of their supporting roles, or the slapstick comedy that manages never to push things over the line of too childish. Just those little background touches go such a long way, and will almost certainly reward repeat viewings. I’m going to go ahead and say that Hugh Grant is getting ready for his career renaissance, and this may be where it begins. He’s excellent throughout as washed up West End star Phoenix Buchanan, the performance blending overt send-up of his celebrity persona (at one point we see his home adorned with old promo shots of Grant in his rom-com days) and a truly surprising comedic performance in its own right. When things in the world aren’t going too well, Hollywood tends to retreat into dystopian sci-fi or superhero franchises, but Paddington 2 is here to simply remind us to be kind and generous towards each other, and that it will likely come back around if we do so. Not many sequels surpass their predecessors, and even fewer family films do so, but Paddington 2 is filled to the brim with the same charm, wit and humour that resuscitated the character for a new generation three years ago, yet somehow even more entertaining. Paddington 2 offers up a world in which the character’s mantra of “if you’re kind and polite, everything will come right” is actually true, and that heroes can come in all shapes and sizes. We could all use a little of that.