Michael Bond’s Paddington Bear stories are charmingly small in scale, so it was quite a gamble when David Heyman, the producer of the “Harry Potter” series, decided that they should be the basis of an action-packed, megabudget franchise. It turned out, though, that he knew what he was doing: “Paddington” was a beloved hit in 2015, and the superior sequel is bound to be even more lucrative.
Once again directed by Paul King, and co-written by King and Simon Farnaby, “Paddington 2” is a sure-footed, sweet-natured family comedy which isn’t set at Christmas, but which glows with so much warmth and fun that it might well be a staple of festive television for years to come.