Hard Stare: Paddington 2 Fans Are Losing It Over Inclusion On 'Overrated Films' List

Paddington 2 hard stare in prison jumpsuit

I thought Paddington 2 was universally loved -- at least by critics, if not Ryan Reynolds -- since it has a rare 100% fresh rating. But it just showed up on a list of the Most Overrated Films Of The Decade and the internet is not taking it well.

'Tis the season for year-end lists here at CinemaBlend and elsewhere. Usually fans just agree or disagree with choices and move on. But Paddington 2 is a special case. Paddington warms people's hearts and inspires a protective instinct in a way that -- forgive me -- reminds me of the love for The Mandalorian's Baby Yoda.

Just like fans want to beat the crap out of those scout troopers for punching Baby Yoda, they broke out threatening memes over Paddington 2 being called "overrated."

I don't want to throw Variety under the bus -- since I've written plenty of unpopular things myself -- however, the site ranked Paddington 2 as #2 on the list of most overrated movies of the decade (#1 is The Master and people aren't tweeting so much about that one), so now we're getting reactions like this:

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Some people feel violently defensive for the marmalade lover:

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A few Paddington 2 fans felt, if anything, the movie was underrated for not getting any Oscars -- or even nominations -- after its release in 2017. The movie made $227 million worldwide, just slightly less than the 2014 movie, but it was ignored at the Academy Awards:

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Some fans feel so strongly about Paddington 2 as a movie that touched their hearts, they broke out a meme of Paddington holding a gun -- which is so not Paddington, but fine:

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My favorite response might be the random choice to include a dun-dun-DUN video just screen-grabbing the notoriously awkward clapback interview between Dakota Johnson and Ellen DeGeneres.

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Some of the reactions used even stronger language and images, turning Paddington 2 into an unexpected trending topic over the holiday weekend. At least the good news is that Paddington 2 is so beloved by fans -- and Hugh Grant, of course -- they will suffer no disparagement to its name at all. But we're all entitled to our opinions and if someone out there really thinks Paddington 2 isn't as great as everyone says, that's fine! The rest of us will enjoy the first two movies and, at least in my case, hope we do get Paddington 3 sometime fairly soon.

Keep up with everything heading to the big screen next year with our 2020 movie release date schedule.

Gina Carbone

Gina grew up in Massachusetts and California in her own version of The Parent Trap. She went to three different middle schools, four high schools, and three universities -- including half a year in Perth, Western Australia. She currently lives in a small town in Maine, the kind Stephen King regularly sets terrible things in, so this may be the last you hear from her.