It was unreasonable to expect a third “Paddington” to live up to “Paddington 2.”

The latter — the 2017 sequel to 2014’s “Paddington,” a live-action adaptation of author Michael Bond’s Paddington Bear stories — improved upon the formula of its well-regarded predecessor enough as to unseat, however briefly, “Citizen Kane” as the top-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes and earn a hilarious but loving shoutout in 2022’s “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.”

In theaters this week, “Paddington in Peru” has a big red suede bucket hat and blue duffle coat to fill. It does so reasonably admirably, if not as impressively as you’d hope.

“Paddington in Peru” is the kind of movie you might have expected from the first “Paddington,” a more or less entertaining, entirely sweet and often adorable affair that’s more for the little ones than their parents.

Making his feature directorial debut, Dougal Wilson takes over from the helmer of the first two films, Paul King, who remains as an executive producer and shares the story-by credit with Simon Farnaby and Mark Burton. (Burton is credited with the screenplay, along with the duo of Jon Foster and James Lamont.) Wilson shows promise — some particulars of “Paddington in Peru” pop — but he simply does not possess that specific artful touch King brought to “Paddington” and, especially, “Paddington 2.”

As the name suggests, “Paddington in Peru” takes the beloved British bear — voiced, charmingly and gently as ever, by Ben Whishaw — out of his comfortable living space in London’s Windsor Gardens, his adoptive Brown family in tow, for an adventure back in his jungle homeland.

The jaunt comes as play-it-safe family patriarch Mr. Brown (Hugh Bonneville) desires to impress his new young boss at the insurance company, Madison (Hayley Atwell in a cameo). She wants him to embrace risk and doesn’t care at all that he’s had the binders of information he’s prepared for a meeting triple-laminated, about which he’s quite proud. (Honestly, we wonder how long SHE will last in the insurance business.)

At home, Mrs. Brown (Emily Mortimer, taking over from the departed Sally Hawkins), is struggling with the fact her children are growing up. Daughter Judy (Madeleine Harris) soon will be off to university, while son Jonathan (Samuel Joslin) spends most of his free hours alone in his room designing and enjoying inventions that aid him in his endeavor to near-endlessly chill in front of a computer screen.

Oh, and marmalade addict Paddington, following a cute misadventure with a photo booth, now has his own passport.

Seems like an ideal time for a family vacation, so when word that something concerning is going on with Paddington’s beloved Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) in Peru, the Browns — complete with colorful housekeeper Mrs. Bird (Julie Walters) — are off to South America.

The letter of concern had come from the woman running the Home for Retired Bears, the Reverend Mother (Olivia Colman). When the Browns arrive, she informs them that since her last letter Aunt Lucy has gone missing.

Following a seemingly all-too-convenient clue, Paddington and the gang go looking for her, hiring a riverboat captain, Hunter Cabot (Antonio Banderas), and his daughter, Gina (Carla Tous), to take them into the dangers-filled jungle.