Three years ago, the Noah Zoo in the Noah Islands added pandas Yuanyuan and Manman to its sanctuary. The beloved animal couple recently had a child, nicknamed Big Babe—a baby black panda with extremely rare facial features. The zoo has invited celebrity action star Jackie Chan (playing himself) to come to the island for a celebration where he will adopt the baby panda. Jackie is getting older and tired of some of the absurd plots of his films—such as his current project that has his character single-handedly taking on 30 soldiers at once. So he is excited for a break to get away and meet this cute panda. He and assistant David (Xiang Wei, Too Cool To Kill) head to the zoo, where they meet the panda’s caring nanny, Su Xiaozhu (Ce Shi, Ash, A Cool Fish), who happens to be a big fan of Jackie’s. She introduces Jackie to the panda (which is love at first sight for both of them), and gives him a rundown of the zoo (which is like a panda-centric version of Jurassic Park).
As the adoption ceremony commences, the island and zoo are taken over by a gang of mercenaries hired by a Middle Eastern sheik for $100 million, to steal the baby panda. Now it’s up to Jackie to prove he’s not just and actor but also a real-life action star, as he tries to save the baby panda from Cha Kun (Yanbo Han, Give Me Five)—the head of the international crime syndicate hired to steal Big Babe, the mohawked lead mercenary James (Temur Mamisashvili, The Wandering Earth II), and the rest of their crew.
Panda Plan is directed by Zhang Luan (Give Me Five) with action choreography by Lü Shijia (Police Story, The Foreigner). I found the film to be ridiculous and over-the-top, but in fun way. Those expecting more of a straight-forward Jackie Chan action movie may be a bit disappointed. This is very much geared towards kids, going for more of a cartoonish and slapstick style of humor. As one point things are even sped up Benny Hill-style as Jackie and David run from a charging rhino. The baby panda is cute and cuddly (though very much looks like CGI), and the film goes for the fart jokes that will make kids laugh. There’s even a zoo maintenance robot named Tony who happens to be a fan of Jackie’s. The villains feel very cartoony, starting with the blue-mowhawked ringleader of the mercs, who is eager to see if Jackie can really fight like he does in his movies. Even though he’s the smartest of the group, he still falls for several of Jackie’s obvious misdirects. James’ men tend to be ridiculously incompetent, such as Harry (Danny Ray) and his dimwitted partner, who gets stuck in a ceiling vent the first time we see him. Then there’s Jackie’s assistant David who’s also not the brightest. When he’s not trying to hit on an uninterested Su Xiaozhu, he’s usually doing something helpful out of sheer dumb luck.
While many of the characters feel a bit one-dimensional or stereotypical (especially the sheik), I think the film can still be quite entertaining if you are just looking for some lighter, over-the-top fare. The film does gives Chan opportunities to show off his signature style of fighting/dodging as he takes on various numbers of these henchmen at a time, and eventually the big boss. The fight/action sequences are quite fun, fast-paced, and well-choreographed. The filmmakers also find clever ways to hide the baby panda at times so that Chan can partake in these action sequences unencumbered. Overall, the film and Chan himself never takes things too seriously, and this is the key to enjoying this movie.
While I said earlier that the film is targeted more towards kids, not everything may be appropriate for younger viewers. There are a few more-violent scenes involving guns, such as the opening sequence involving Chan on his latest movie set, taking on a huge group of soldiers to some pretty bloody results.
Well Go USA has released Panda Plan on Blu-ray, DVD and digital. We were sent the Blu-ray version for review, which looks and sounds great. The picture looks crisp and clean, with a solid level of detail. My only complaint is that when Jackie or other characters are holding the baby panda, it looks quite fake. The film is offered both with its original Mandarin audio as well as with an English dub track, though there are several characters on the Mandarin track who still speak English, such as the zoo director and those who work in the control room with him. I primarily watched with the English dub, but I found both tracks to be a solid, and the English subtitles to be well written. Dialogue is clear throughout, and the surround sound is well-utilized to add a more immersive feel to the action sequences. There’s also some entertaining pop music mixed in with the score.
Well Go’s Blu-ray release does not include any bonus material (unless you count the English dub option) besides the usual trailer and previews. The Blu-ray disc comes packed in a locking HD keepcase. There is no digital copy, and our review copy did not include a slipcover.
What’s Included:
Film: (1:39:11)
-
Blu-ray:
- 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
- Audio: Mandarin 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Mandarin Stereo, English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English Stereo
- Subtitles: English, French
Extras:
Final Thoughts:
Panda Plan is an entertaining film but geared more towards younger viewers, with cartoony slapstick action and villains. While Chan does get a chance to showcase his usual action style, fans looking for a more serious movie will probably be disappointed. The effects are also a bit underwhelming (the panda looks obviously like it is CG). That said, if you watch the movie and don’t take things too seriously, it can be quite a fun adventure. I think the film is worth the look if you are a fan of Chan and are OK with more cartoony villains, humor and action.
