Panda Plan
“Panda Plan” is like one of those early-2000s action comedies that Jackie Chan made in Hollywood, which is to say, it coasts on Chan’s natural charisma, is cheesy as Hell, but still fairly enjoyable. This film is a far cry from Chan greats like the “Police Story” films, and even “Rumble in the Bronx” and “Rush Hour”; all that being said, however, director Luan Zhang keeps it light- and relatively short- which makes it go down a lot easier.
Here, Chan plays a version of himself, a major star who is in the middle of shooting when we see him. He’s finding himself growing tired of action films, and wants to branch out into something else. I don’t think being a part of a panda adoption ceremony was what he had in mind, and when a crime syndicate looks to kidnap the panda, he has to be an action hero for real to keep the panda out of their hands.
Let’s get this out of the way right now- it is clear as day that the baby panda at the center of the action is CGI. It is very distracting that the baby panda is CGI. This is where the film falls into “cheesy as Hell” category, because it relies on technology that gets in the way of Chan’s physical gifts as a stunt performer. Of course, he is older now, and as such, not as nimble as he once was. But he still has enough physicality to where his ability to perform freely matters. This is where Chan’s charisma is important to the film- he and the main co-stars of the film (Ce Shi as someone who works with the pandas and Xiang Wei as the main villain, who is cartoonishly over-the-top) make an engaging trio.
A movie like “Panda Plan” is a fun diversion, but will be instantly forgotten after one watches it. Chan can only charm in this film so far before it just falls flat. At a certain point, it goes on fumes, although I will admit there is an insane twist in this that is kind of touching, bringing the film to a weird conclusion, but one that gives it some unexpectedly emotional moments when the silliness gets too ridiculous. When all is said and done, however, there is little to hang its hat on for this film.
