There are many bad movies in the world. There are also a lot of mediocre movies. And lots of good to great things. But there is only one “Paddington 2,” which is literally one of the best-reviewed movies in history. While not everyone thinks “Paddington 2” is one of the best movies ever made, many people do. And even those who largely don’t conclude that it’s sweet and fun.

Normally the idea of ​​making a sequel to one of the best movies ever made would be a little concerning, because how can lightning strike twice? But “Paddington 2” is “Paddington 2.” There is literally “2” in the title. This “Peruvian” adventure is a sequel to a great movie that people not only loved more than the original, but also became one of the most famous movies of all time. If any threequel can live up to its predecessors, or at least give them the recognition they deserve, Definitely It would be “Paddington in Peru.”

So it’s a shame that “Paddington in Peru” stinks. It’s the kind of bland, forgettable disgrace we probably all expected the “Paddington” movies to be in the first place, before they wowed us and raised our expectations. The new movie has heart, but it’s buried under a lot of boilerplate writing and boring filler. Like a ton of padding. A ton of padding.

“Paddington in Peru” begins with Paddington (Ben Whishaw) becoming a British citizen. No, we don’t understand how this gets passed through citizenship laws. He currently lives with the Browns, a surprisingly functional family who have a beautiful house in London. He’s not exactly a fish out of water anymore either. Good for him, but bad for us, because it means the comedy engine that powers this series is almost completely out of gas.

Since Paddington has nothing to do in his new home, she sends him back to his old home in “Paddington in Peru,” as the title suggests. The Mother Superior (Olivia Colman) who runs the Home for Retired Bears writes a letter to inform her that her beloved Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) is down in the dumps, so Paddington and the Browns pack up and head to South America. (If you’re wondering what the Browns are doing these days, they don’t spend as much time together as they used to — oh, they had such problems — and also, Mary, who used to look like Sally Hawkins, now looks just as pretty as Emily Mortimer.)

When they arrive in Peru, Paddington is horrified to learn that Aunt Lucy has disappeared while searching for a mysterious treasure in the jungle. So it’s up to Paddington, Mary, Henry (Hugh Bonneville) and the other Browns to find him. Along the way, they pick up a guide named Cabot (Antonio Banderas), who comes from a long line of gold-hungry colonists who died searching for El Dorado. Cabot is still struggling with what Scrooge McDuck calls “gold fever”; this will be important later as the villain of the week.

Then a lot of things happen. It’s like they’re all just “things”. The Browns are drifting with the current. They get lost in the forest. Paddington solves puzzles to track down Aunt Lucy and the gold. Meanwhile, the Reverend Mother continues to reassure them that nothing is suspicious at the highly suspicious House of Retired Bears. Like hell. No sir, Bob.

None of it matters and none of it is funny; Two bad tastes made even worse by taste. “Paddington in Peru” decided at the last minute to claim that this movie was about Paddington deciding whether he belonged in Peru or London, but that was never in doubt. Not for a second. It only appears once in conversations, when suggested by someone else and not by Paddington.

Paddington and the Browns actually get along very well throughout the movie. Since he works in insurance and dislikes risks, the Browns have nothing to achieve and nowhere to grow except for a small part of Henry’s life. Hey, now he has to take a few risks. Meh.

“Paddington in Peru” leaves the fish-out-of-water jokes at home, so again, there’s not much to laugh about. Instead, humor is replaced by sweet adventures. Because that’s what everyone loved about these movies: “Indiana Jones” riffs.

This isn’t the first sequel to hopelessly transplant its characters to a tropical or jungle locale, and it’s not the best either. Also in the running are “Weekend at Bernie’s II,” “Speed ​​2: Cruise Control” and “Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise,” so it’s not the worst either. Let’s split the difference and call it middling. To quote Harry Flugelman, the great fictional studio executive of “Three Amigos”: “We deviated from the formula and paid the price!”

Paul King directed the first two “Paddington” movies, but I guess he’s busy these days — he directed last year’s “Wonka” and is gearing up for “Wonka 2” (along with “Prince Charming”) — so “Paddington in Peru” is being directed by Dougal Wilson . This is her music video and feature film debut coming out of the commercial world, and the poor results don’t seem to be her fault.

What makes this movie fail is the laborious script written by Mark Burton, Jon Foster, and James Lamont. This is all generic family movie nonsense, a series of events happening one after the other, giving the heroes an excuse to get into situations they wouldn’t normally be in… even though there’s no good reason for any of this to happen.

Actually there is a reason. But this is not a good thing. If you look carefully, you can see a dark shadow appearing from behind the camera. Tragically, skepticism seems to have finally crept into this “Paddington” series as well.

For this reason This What was that smell all this time? It smelled like a cash grab.

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