After the gloriously heartwarming, undeniably charming, and thoroughly British Paddington captured the heart of the nation, and viewers around the world when it was released in 2014, fans were understandably excited for the release of Paddington 2 last year, overjoyed when it proved to be every bit as brilliant as the first, and now have an extra reason to celebrate as Paddington 2 is officially the best reviewed film of all time.
Topping movies like Citizen Kane, The Godfather, and even Waterworld, the little bear with the marmalade fixation has just set a new record on aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes for for having the most consecutive ‘Fresh’ reviews, with out a single ‘Rotten’; earning (currently) 164 consecutive positive reviews from critics.
Previous record holder Toy Story 2 (with 163 ‘Fresh’ reviews) recently lost its top spot to Greta Gerwig’s Ladybird, but reclaimed its title after a single negative review took Ladybird down to a mere 99% Fresh, leaving road clear for Paddington 2 to receive the recognition it deserves, and director Paul King to say he is “incredibly grateful for the overwhelmingly positive response.”
Starring Hugh Grant, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, and the voice of Ben Whishaw, Paddington 2 was released in the UK in November, is being rolled out globally now (it was released in the US on 12 January), and has so far grossed over £150m worldwide. There’s still a way to go before it tops the £190m made by the first film, but as it’s yet to open in Japan, Russia, Brazil, Korea, Mexico, and more King has his “fingers crossed it’ll be the little engine that could.”
