‘Paddington In Peru’ sees the marmalade-loving bear travel with the Brown family to, well, Peru. This being the third film in the delightful franchise, it makes sense for the heroes to take the action abroad. Because if there’s one thing movie sequels love to do, it’s to set some or all of the action in a new, overseas location. Maybe it’s just about raising the stakes, or putting well-established characters in new settings to test their mettle. Or sometimes its simply due to tax breaks in filming. Who can tell?! At any rate, here are some of the most memorable movie sequels that hightailed it ‘out foreign’ – with varying degrees of success.
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason – Thailand
This perfectly adequate sequel sees Bridge (Renee Zellweger) take a working holiday to Thailand. On the way back, she unknowingly carries drugs through the airport & spends time in a Thai jail, advising local female prisoners about their relationships and teaching them dance routines to Madonna – until she is rescued by her rich lawyer-boyfriend. All is well!
The Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift – Japan
The third movie in the franchise sees Sean (Lucas Black) move to Tokyo to live with his long-lost father, where he falls in with the local motorheads. The change of scene injected some fresh energy into the franchise, driving (!) it forward to 7 more movies.
Police Academy: Mission To Moscow – Russia
How dare you – insinuate that the law of diminishing returns had well and truly set in by the time this 7th instalment of the franchise came out in 1994, which sees the bungling police cadets travel to Moscow to help to capture a Russian Mafia boss. Apparently this was one of the first American movies to be allowed to film in Red Square post-Soviet dissolution. Truly, the west won the Cold War.
The Karate Kid II – Japan
In this sequel to the colossal surprise hit that was The Karate Kid, Daniel (Ralph Macchio) accompanies Mr Miyagi (Pat Morita) to his homeland of Japan so the old master can say goodbye to his father. Of course, while there, Daniel must crank-kick a local karate-skilled enemy. Look, it’s not great, but its soundtrack did produce an absolute banger of a power ballad, Peter Cetera’s ‘Glory of Love’.
Speed 2: Cruise Control – Caribbean
How to follow up the perfect action movie, one of the true masterpieces of the genre? Team up one of the stars from the original (Sandra Bullock) with a new guy (Jason Patric) and throw them onto a hijacked cruise ship in the Caribbean. Not even a peerless trouper like Sandy B can carry this show; I swear, there are actual times throughout this movie where you see her pleading at you with her eyes through the screen.
Rambo: First Blood Part II – Vietnam
It always surprises new viewers how quiet and, dare I say it, contemplative the first US-set Rambo is. Not so the sequel, which sees Sly Stallone’s war vet dropped into Vietnam to rescue some American POWs. This being the height of the Cold War, not only does Rambo get to exorcise the ghosts of America’s military failure in Vietnam, he gets to slaughter a bunch of Soviet Red Army Commies too. USA! USA!
Mr Bean’s Holiday – France
In this standalone sequel to the Bean movie, Rowan Atkinson’s silent eejit wins a trip to Cannes in France, but of course along the way, he’s mistaken for a kidnapper, after bumbling his way into looking after a Russian film director’s son. Needless to say Bean’s eventual arrival in Cannes is a collection of mishaps and disasters only matched by that time Lars von Trier did a press conference declaring himself to be a Nazi after the Croisette premiere of Melancholia.
Spider-Man: Far From Home – Europe
Tom Holland’s second standalone movie as Spidey sees him and his school pals gallivanting around Europe on a two-week vacation. While there, the continental hotspots like Venice, Berlin and London are subject to mysterious “elemental” attacks (water, fire and so on). Turns out they’re actually caused by technical trickery engineered by Mysterio (aka Quentin Beck, aka the divine form of Jake Gyllenhaal, who has a ball in the role). The chemistry between Tom and Jake launched a thousand bromantic internet memes.
Sex and the City 2 – Abu Dhabi
Where does one even start? This sequel to the 2008 movie plants the four New York women in Abu Dhabi for…reasons? (Something to do with Samantha’s PR firm selling it as a tourist attraction?). Cue an almost breathtaking number of tone-deaf sequences as the girls are all appointed their own slave…erm, servants, and Samantha falls foul of the region’s draconian public decency laws. My favourite bit? Miranda shouting out of a car window, “Abu Dhabi Do!”
PADDINGTON IN PERU is now showing in cinemas
Words : Declan Cashin