Synopsis: Starring as himself, action-star Jackie Chan agrees to adopt a popular baby panda at an island-based zoo where it is seen as an internet sensation. But after he arrives on the island to begin the celebrations, Jackie finds himself involved in a rescue mission and a fight to stay alive when a gang of ruthless mercenaries arrive to kidnap the cute bear for an unknown buyer. (99 Mins)

 

Views: On January 10th I had the pleasure of being invited to the big screen premiere of Jackie Chan's Panda Plan in London, courtesy of UK distributors Cineasia. Over the last couple of years, I've always had to turn down such invites as my pockets aren't actually deep enough to fly to London from Belfast every other month in order to watch a movie. But, for this one – seemingly Jackie Chan's last ever action-comedy – I was determined to make it. But was the most expensive cinema ticket I've ever bought worth all the bother?

 

Absolutely!

 

It's no secret how much of a die-hard fan I am of Jackie Chan – my hero for almost 4 decades already and the man who has been a massive inspiration to me forever. And while a tiny part of me was hoping that Chan the man may just turn up for this big screen event, I still felt that I should not miss this opportunity to attend the celebrations. And I'm really glad that I did! Accompanied by my husband, the evening began with a drinks reception attended by critics, influencers, martial artists and fans, where games, kung fu demonstrations, and photo opportunities took us up to the initial screening – and I could hardly wait! With a great buzz in air, complimentary goodies and scoring an original poster for the film, I was all set for Panda Plan. Prior to this, I had tried to avoid any and all trailers, write-ups and reviews of the movie – hoping to go in with fresh eyes and no pre-judgements of Jackie's latest adventure. And I was pleasantly surprised! The story follows legendary kung fu star Jackie Chan who has adopted a new panda cub, named Hu Hu, at a famous island based zoo. But once there, he finds himself embroiled in a battle with a gang of mercenaries who have been hired to steal the cute bear. Along with his crazed agent (Xiang Wei) and Hu Hu's dedicated caretaker Su Xiaozhu (Ce Shi), the trio do what they can to save the bear and themselves, while outsmarting the bad guys in a series of hilarious fight scenes and wild chases!

 

I'll be honest, I don't think I've laughed as hard at a Jackie Chan movie in the last lot of years, than I did at Panda Plan. In fact, the majority of the audience were just as tickled. The film is infectiously silly and genuinely funny at times, crammed with plenty of ridiculous moments that offer laugh after laugh – playing like a live-action cartoon which suited the whole set-up of the movie. And while we've been used to seeing Jackie playing a character called Jackie since the mid-late 90s, and more-so because of the US dubs that came about during his takeover of Hollywood, it was quite refreshing to see him actually play himself – Jackie Chan the movie star, an actor from Hong Kong who is excited about retiring because he's too old for the game. And I loved that! We must remember that Jackie is 70 years old here. Most 70 year old people I know are long retired from their job, half dead, or moving into retirement homes. To see Jackie do what he does in this film is just incredible! There's no stopping the man – as much as he wants to...

 

The film opens with an intense and somewhat violent action scene in a church that sees Jackie take on ninjas and gunmen in a flurry of martial-arts moves and gunfire. This is definitely one of his most exciting action scenes in the past few years that starts with two motorbikes crashing through the windows of the building before all hell breaks loose. Only after it ends do we learn that it's a scene from his latest movie, but it certainly gets the blood pumping. Thankfully, the action continues after Jackie gets to the zoo, and while not as hard-hitting or intense as the opening fight scene, still gives fans exactly what they came for. But again, it is done so brilliantly as the gang of mercenaries who arrive to steal the panda realise that the movie star Jackie Chan is right there. While two of these guys, who are quite clearly the comedy sidekicks of the show, are die-hard fans of the star – later revealing some very impressive tattoos of their hero – the leading soldier, an ex-MMA fighter, is determined to go toe-to-toe with Jackie as a personal challenge in knowing what he can do after watching all his movies. But no matter how hard he tries to make it clear that he is just a 70 year old actor, Jackie has no luck in convincing the brutal killer that he is not a fighter. Thankfully, for those of us who are watching, the mercenary ignores Jackie's pleas and still attacks – resulting in Chan channelling some of his past film roles in order to muster the moves that will keep him alive and help save the day. Of course, this gang of killers are under the orders of the big boss man – a grumpy Thai gangster who is a dead-ringer for a young Gordon Liu (played by Yanbo Han). But while he still visually impresses in action, we also see that Jackie is slowing down. He gets exhausted. He gets tired. He is 70 for God sake! But he still delivers and that's what matters. Obviously if you go into Panda Plan expecting to see the same Jackie from Police Story (1985), Project A (1983), Drunken Master (1978), or even Rush Hour (1998), then of course you will be disappointed – and if I've said it once, I've said it a hundred time – this is the curse of film. We watch so many classic movies of our favourite stars that we lock them in time; expecting them to continue to be this age and have this same energy until their final show. But that is not the case, naturally...

 

If I can do at 70 what Jackie is doing here in Panda Plan, I'll be very happy. But even at 48 I'm starting to fall over trying to put my socks on! Respect the man for who he is and you will enjoy the moment even more so. Of course, aside from Jackie as the main star, there are a ton of extras and co-stars that help fill out the cast with faces from every corner of the world, resulting in a bi-lingual audio track and struggle in communication between some characters. Saying that, we only got to see the full English dubbed version which saw a lot of these comedic moments lost with the single language use, and this was the only real disappointment for me. While I get that it may be needed for it's Western cinematic outing in the hope to attract a bigger audience, I just found some of the voice-overs to be unsuitable and, at times, inaudible which was a shame. Still, my fingers are crossed that we will be offered the original bi-lingual audio track when it comes to its physical release on DVD and Blu-ray. For me though, Panda Plan was an absolute joy to watch regardless of its dub or limitations on CGI. It's silly but very funny, well directed and shot, packed full of exciting action scenes and great fights, and offers a reason behind the kidnapping of the panda that no-one ever saw coming and possibly seemed a bit extreme in the grand scheme of things. Regardless, it has a certain charm and excitement that harks back to Jackie's action-comedies of yesteryear, and it's a film I look forward to going back to time and time again. Needless to say, I loved every minute of my experience at it's premiere thanks to the guys at Cineasia!

 

Overall: Whether it's his last action-comedy or not, this pensioner we know as Jackie Chan delivers and impresses with plenty of fun fight action and lots of hilarity in Panda Plan!

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Watch my video review for this movie HERE