Paddington 2 [4K Ultra HD]

Director: Paul King

Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Ben Whishaw

Release Date: March 4, 2025

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 7.5/10

Synopsis:

Paddington, now happily settled with the Brown family in Windsor Gardens, has become a popular member of the community, spreading joy and marmalade wherever he goes. While searching for the perfect present for his beloved Aunt Lucy’s 100th birthday, Paddington spots a unique pop-up book in Mr. Gruber’s antique shop, and embarks on a series of odd jobs to buy it. Hilarity and adventure ensues when the book is stolen and Paddington and the Browns must unmask the thief.

‘Paddington 2’ rejoins everyone’s favorite kind-hearted and well-mannered bear now settled in with the Browns and becoming familiar with his new environment, plus of course always happy to lend a helping paw. But Paddington’s quest to find a perfect gift for his beloved aunt Lucy becomes complicated when Mr. Gruber shows him a gorgeous pop-up book, although sadly one that’s incredibly expensive. Intent to find a way of earning the money to get it for her nonetheless, things take a terrible turn when someone steals the book from the shop and Paddington tries to stop the thief only to end up framed for the crime and subsequently locked up. Now the Browns will have to find a way to prove his innocence while Paddington tries to make friends in the most unlikely of places.

Directed once again by Paul King (Paddington, Wonka) from a screenplay written by King and Simon Farnaby, King does a terrific job at the helm of ‘Paddington 2’ guiding along the marvelous sequel with heart, style and humor. The cast includes Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Brendan Gleeson, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Peter Capaldi, with Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw reprising his voice role of Paddington, with each offering charming and fully capable performances for the most part in their roles that repeatedly help contribute to the magic throughout.

‘Paddington 2’ is a magical treat of a sequel that takes everything positive from its already spectacular predecessor and then miraculously manages to not only match its wonder but actually top it, coming together into a truly perfect sequel that’s an absolute gem from start to finish; not to mention a kindhearted and inoffensive family film that has something to offer everyone while offending nearly no one. It’s rich with beauty, wonder and heart, plus of course plenty of laughs once our beloved bear’s adventure once again leads to troublesome and often quite amusing results and consequences, yet it never seems to detract from his positive attitude and love for everyone and everything. Family films (or really just films in general) just don’t get more rewarding than this and it’s nearly impossible not to be moved by it, so if you somehow haven’t seen these films yet then I can’t imagine a better time to rectify that.

For a more detailed review of the film itself you can read my review of the ‘Paddington 2’ 2018 Blu-ray release from Warner Bros. Right Here!

‘Paddington 2’ comes home on 4K Ultra HD for the first time in the states courtesy of Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment. The new release arrives sporting an extremely nice Ultra High Definition presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR-10 that looks quite spectacular and marks a nice upgrade from Warner’s already satisfying Blu-ray release from a number of years back. The notable new UHD video presentation is nicely boosted by a Dolby Atmos soundtrack and also features a helping of previously released extras ported over from WB’s Blu-ray. Those who would love to own the sequel in 4K and aren’t fond of imports shouldn’t be disappointed by this new 4K edition if wanting to purchase a copy, although some may prefer to import the UK release of all three films in 4K as this sequel is the only installment currently available (or knowingly planned) for the format in the US.

VIDEO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Paddington 2’ features a full 2160p Ultra High Definition presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR-10, presented in its original 2.39:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks wonderful altogether and offers a sharp, clean and gorgeously detailed presentation from start to finish that’s rich with vibrant coloring and absent of any faults or issues to be located throughout. There’s clear improvement on detail throughout noticeable on character details such as Paddington’s fur and clothing, while backgrounds and settings both indoor and out look spectacular across the board and much of it is nicely boosted by the Dolby Vision HDR which contributes some sharper, more lifelike coloring on various elements big and small; with rich, clean and problem free black levels to seal the deal. Overall, this is a splendid Ultra High Definition presentation that looks consistently great and should easily thrill fans.

AUDIO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation. This multichannel soundtrack is likely identical to the Atmos presentation on WB’s initial Blu-ray release, but that’s no problem whatsoever as it provides a crisp, clean and immersive soundtrack at every turn throughout. It utilizes all seven available channels in order to send action and nature effects, plus music, crowd noise and more throughout the various speakers quite regularly, and never conflicting with or negatively affecting any other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously. Overall, this is a great Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that holds up at every turn and shouldn’t disappoint in the slightest.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Paddington 2’ features a collection of enjoyable, previously released extras which were also available on WB’s initial Blu-ray release of the film. Included on the release is an ‘Audio Commentary with Director/Co-writer Paul King’, along with a collection of Behind the Scenes Featurettes that feature behind the scenes footage, interviews/comments from the cast and crew, plus more. The included Featurettes are: ‘Paddington: The Bear Truth’ (running approximately 5 minutes in length), ‘The Magical Mystery of Paddington’s Pop-Up Book’ (running approximately 3 minutes), ‘The Browns and Paddington: A Special Bond’ (approximately 6 minutes), ‘Knuckles: A Fistful of Marmalade’ (2 minutes), and ‘The (Once) Famous Faces of Phoenix Buchanan’ (4 minutes). Also included is a ‘How to Make a Marmalade Sandwich’ (approximately 3 minutes) video and a ‘Music Video with Phoenix Buchannan’ (2 minutes).

*Please note that the above images are taken from a previously released Blu-Ray disc and resized. They do not represent the quality of the 4K Ultra HD disc itself and will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on the 4K UHD & Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

–

Disc Rating: 7.5/10

–

‘Paddington 2’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment

–

You can purchase ‘Paddington 2’ on 4K UHD at Amazon HERE!

*Screen-Connections.com is an Amazon Associate that earns from qualifying purchases