I need to say this up front, so as to hopefully persuade you… if, like me, you were put off by the slapstick first trailer for Paddington that screened at many cinemas, fearing that your beloved childhood character had been turned into a hideous, ADHD, teenage mutant ninja bear, please readjust your expectations. Because the movie itself has actually turned out to be OK.

Now that’s been taken care of… the plot. From deepest darkest Peru, a small bear arrives at Paddington station with nothing much more than an emergency sandwich under his hat and a bellyful of marmalade. He is searching for an English explorer who visited his family decades prior, and who offered a warm London welcome for any bear who visited. A passing commuter, Mrs. Brown (Hawkins), takes pity on the creature and invites him home, much to the consternation of her husband and daughter but, despite property-destroying hijinks, the bear eventually wins everyone over. Except for the barmy taxidermist (Kidman) intent on having the bear for her collection…

Predictable and silly at times, yes, but the charm of the bear (voiced by Whishaw) combined with some great actresses (Kidman, Hawkins, Julie Walters as the housekeeper) having a lot of fun, win you over in the end. Very British in nature, this is a charming hark back to an era of Disney-like family films that will be enjoyable for all ages (both young and young-at-heart).

This is the sort of delightful, endearing, implausible and explosively funny movie that everyone should see. It is the perfect antithesis to all those superb Scandinavian crime dramas. Based on the book of the same name, by Jonas Jonasson, it follows the improbable and hilarious adventures of Allan Karlsson (Gustafsson), the eponymous centenarian.

The shenanigans begin on Allan’s one-hundredth birthday. It quickly becomes apparent that this is not Allan’s first adventure. Allan does not want to attend his birthday party, and so he climbs out of the window. To the police he has disappeared. Luckily we get to follow Allan as he befriends various people and an incredibly large mammal, travels and accidentally kills a few people. The film transitions between the present-day and Allan’s previous escapades with some of the most famous people and events of the 20th century.

Robert Gustasfsson convincingly plays Allan from his youth to his later years, with a practically seamless transition between the ages (kudos to the make-up department).

Fans of the book will be a little disappointed that some details and characters have been omitted or underwritten. However, these changes have been made in favour of a tightly paced film.

This Swedish movie is an absolute treat. It won’t only have you laughing out loud, there will also be quite a lot of snorting and tears of joy involved.