We as a civilization do not deserve the Paddington movies.

Ten years ago, I knew for a fact that there was no way Paddington could possibly be any good, and I’m still eating crow for it to this day. And when I was every bit as confident that Paddington 2 couldn’t possibly repeat the miracle, it sure as hell did. I can only assume the rest of the world (or at least the moviegoers here in the States) felt the same way I did, because the series caught fire in a big way after the second movie. It’s gotten to the point where “Paddington 2” has become a cultural shorthand, recognized as a feel-good movie so wholesome and pure that literally anyone at any time can put it on and enjoy.

I don’t know what the Paddington films are like in the zeitgeist of the UK or anywhere else abroad, but they occupy a unique pop culture space here in the USA. They’re not massively expensive, they don’t get huge advertising/merchandising campaigns, they’re not built for billion-dollar grosses and indeed, they typically don’t bring in world-conquering numbers. Yet the Paddington movies still make money. And everyone seems genuinely glad to see them make money. Because the movies are somehow that damned good, against all expectations.

Increasingly often, it feels like Hollywood keeps coming to us, whether we like it or not. By contrast, it’s like the Paddington films are content to simply come out and let us come to them. It’s a welcome and refreshing change of pace.

So here we are with Paddington in Peru, and there were some noteworthy shake-ups for this third entry. First and foremost, while franchise mastermind Paul King got a story credit and a customary exec-producer credit, he’s otherwise absent this time. Instead, the script was written by Mark Burton (best known for his work with Aardman Animation), alongside Jon Foster and James Lamont (both late of “The Amazing World of Gumball”). In the director’s chair is Dougal Wilson, here making his feature debut after a string of commercials and music videos in the UK. Last but not least, the crucial supporting role of Mary Brown has been recast, with Emily Mortimer stepping in for Sally Hawkins.

Oh, and by the way, Paddington 2 came out in 2017. Which means the third entry had to survive COVID-19 and the AMPAS holdouts, in addition to so many foundational changes on both sides of the camera. After all, that, it’s miracle enough that the film got released at all.

Even more inconceivably, it’s like nobody missed a step. Seriously, I don’t know how it’s possible, but the third movie is every bit as damned good.

We open just before Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw, once again) gets his passport, making him an official resident of the United Kingdom. (By the way, that’s not a joke — that actually happened. Seriously, that’s like if the U.S. federal government issued a legal and official social security card to Charlie Brown.) The timing is rather fortuitous, as Paddington’s beloved Aunt Lucy (voiced by a returning Imelda Staunton) has suddenly gone missing. Thus Paddington and his loving adoptive Brown Family venture out to the deepest jungles of darkest Peru to try and find Aunt Lucy. Hilarity ensues.

Speaking of which, what’s the latest with the Browns? Well, Henry Brown (Hugh Bonneville, again) is a notoriously risk-averse man stuck dealing with a new boss by way of a corporate takeover. (The new boss is played in a speaking cameo by Hayley Atwell.) As would be expected, he’s not taking the change very well. But of course that’s all just comic relief.

The main character development and drama concerns Mary Brown and her two kids (Judy and Jonathan, once again respectively played by Madeleine Harris and Samuel Joslin). By this point, both kids are pretty well grown, but Jonathan spends most of his time building machines to help him play video games all day. It’s really quite impressive how much work he puts in to be so lazy. As for Judy, she’s in the process of applying for university, and Mary is having a rough time letting go.

The upshot is that the Brown family spends so little time together, providing further motivation for them to all join Paddington on a Peruvian vacation. More importantly, following Paddington back to his native country and watching him reconnect with his fellow bears puts a whole new perspective on the Browns and their issues, most especially with the Mary/Judy dynamic and learning how to let go. The movie works superbly well as an immigrant story, as Paddington grapples with the family history he never knew he had, while reconciling that with the people and culture and nation that have so graciously accepted him as one of their own for so long.

(Seriously, Paddington visited Queen Elizabeth at one point. We clearly see a picture of them having tea together. Which means the Jubilee sketch — also written by Foster and Lamont, under Burton’s direction — is apparently somehow canon to the film series.)

But of course it wouldn’t be a Paddington movie without a beloved A-list actor coming in to nuke the scenery. This time, we get a two-fer. Olivia Colman shows up as the administrator of the Home for Retired Bears in Peru. (If that last sentence sounded like gibberish, welcome to the Paddington movies.) But of course, Colman mugs for the camera so aggressively and so often that we all immediately know the character is up to something.

And then we’ve got Antonio Banderas in the role of Hunter Cabot, a riverboat captain who serves as the Brown family’s guide through the Peruvian jungle. For extra measure, Banderas also plays a host of Cabot’s ancestors (spanning all manner of time periods, cultures, and genders), all of whom were killed by their own all-consuming obsession with finding the city of El Dorado. Yes, the movie goes there.

Oh, and Hugh Grant comes back for a mid-credits cameo stinger. Yes, seriously. But I digress.

I do love how the main villains for the Paddington films keep one-upping each other with each entry. It takes a lot to outdo Hugh Grant in a dog suit, but watching Antonio Banderas arguing with six different versions of himself — including a psychotic conquistador, a deranged old-timey prospector, and an aviatrix — will certainly do the trick. But more than that, Hunter has something the previous Paddington cinematic villains didn’t: An involuntary sidekick.

Enter Gina Cabot (Carla Tous), Hunter’s daughter and ship engineer. As such, Gina saw firsthand and up close how her father was destroyed by the family obsession with treasure. And we get to see Hunter’s constant struggle between love for his daughter and lust for gold. It brings a nice level of nuance to the villain in a way that ties into the overarching family theme, delivered in such a way that it doesn’t make the villain any less over-the-top. Elegantly done.

So, are there any nitpicks? Well, there’s a big splashy musical number that I didn’t particularly care for, and it feels out of place in a movie that isn’t otherwise a musical. I might add that the plot gets implausibly thin and absurdly contrived at times, but that’s par for the course with these pictures.

Otherwise… it’s a Paddington film. You’ve got Paddington engaging in slapstick shenanigans and comical misunderstandings. You’ve got a film that’s charming, funny, silly, heartfelt, tearjerking… seriously, I’m at a loss of anything else to say.

Everything that made the first two movies work, Paddington in Peru delivers more of it in spades. But the change in setting — not to mention the change in filmmakers — helps to keep the series fresh. I’m consistently impressed with how all three movies to date have delivered three such wildly different angles of exploring the same basic themes while maintaining the same friendly tone. In this case, I love how the film is a full-on immigrant story to marvelous effect that would only be possible at this point in the series, after two previous films settling Paddington into his home and family across the world.

I don’t know how much longer the series can continue, but I would so much rather have a fourth Paddington movie than a fourth Sonic movie. We could absolutely use more of this good clean family entertainment that’s wholesome and heartwarming but not ever cloying, funny and silly but not ever brainless or obnoxious. If you’re somehow still not familiar with the Paddington cinematic trilogy, I strongly recommend watching all of them — this film among the rest.