Paddington in Peru feels like it just missed the mark. The storyline is intriguing and mysterious. I think it failed in three key areas:
1. The movie had far too many quirky special effects so to speak that were not prevalent in the other installments in the Paddington franchise. The singing nuns, the cursed ancestors constantly talking over Hunter's shoulder, and the overly cgi-infused version of Peru made for a more plastic, less gritty and cinematic movie. The level of mystery and backstory in this movie could've made for a mature, cinematic, action movie, but instead it was turned into an overly sentimental and dumbed down ghost of what it could've been (obviously understandable given the primary audience for the Paddington movies, but albeit a bit disappointing as it seemed even more so this way than in the first two movies in the franchise (which are both excellent.))
2. The mystery was almost completely unfolded far too soon. I was expecting for the mystery to unravel at a more natural slower pace but instead it was all revealed at once (with the possible exception of the moment Reverend Mother accidentally reveals her tatoo, indicating that she too is cursed, which although intriguing, wasn't altogether shocking considering her overly suspicious behavior.)
3. It's not the same without the original Mrs. Brown. The original was such an upbeat, quirky, and fun character. The new one is quite the opposite. I believe they tried to weave in some of the old Mrs Brown into the new one but this actress is totally different and it didn't work.
Areas where it excelled:
1. Unexpected humor. One example of this is Mr. Browns anti-affinity for a particular kind of spider which continually showed up to him in unexpected ways
2. Expected humor. All the classic movie tropes that you expected to see, appeared exactly at you expect which provides a level of familiarity. One that even carrys over from the other Paddington movies is the old lady being a key part in solving the mystery.
3. Mysterious plotline. Like the other Paddington movies, Paddington in Peru revolves around really one main villain with shady, and quite frankly, violent ambitions. Where things get interesting is with Hunter. Until the end of the movie (and not even entirely then,) there is little indication as to whether he is good or bad. The reality is, that he's a good guy, with an almost (not quite) unbreakable curse.
Overall, would I recommend watching this movie? Ehhh.....yesn't? It's not like I'm going to go out of my way to recommend this movie to a friend, but I certainly wouldn't discourage anyone from watching. If you were to ask me directly, "should I watch Paddington in Peru?", I would say "yeah, Heck yeah."