Xiong mao ji hua

Jackie Chan, an adorable panda, and the lovely Ce Shi are enough to keep me engaged, even if the kid-friendly slapstick martial arts film feels a bit worn out. Unfortunately, the panda was just a poorly animated CGI version! The villains were meant to be the real deal, but their acting was so subpar that viewers might have preferred the CGI instead!

The film seems a bit confused about its identity. For the first hour, Panda Plan is a fun action comedy focused mainly on stunts and jokes. Then, in the final act, it takes a serious turn when Su reveals she might have to leave her job caring for the pandas due to her parents' health issues. The film even attempts to tug at the heartstrings at the end when the motive behind the panda heist is unveiled.

Nonetheless, it was entertaining, as is typical with Jackie Chan films... so for the entertainer who continues to shine even in his 70s, I give it six stars!

When I sat down to watch the 2024 action comedy "Panda Plan" here in 2025, I was actually looking forward to doing so, as it was a Jackie Chan movie.

But lo and behold, my excitement was cut brutally short, because this movie was cringeworthy in so many ways. It was painful to watch Jackie Chan in this movie, and I have to say that this was definitely a contender for the top three of the worst of Jackie Chan movies, and it is not like there are many of those.

I find it rather impressive that three writers collectively could manage to put together a laughable heap of a storyline that this turned out to be. The movie had next to no coherent storyline whatsoever.

The only familiar face on the screen was Jackie Chan. I have to say that the acting performances in the movie were not overly great, and Jackie Chan seemed like he was forced against his better judgement to star in this dumpster fire of a movie.

I watched a terribly dubbed version of the movie, and even Jackie Chan was dubbed, just adding to the cringe that is "Panda Plan". It is simply baffling that dubbing still takes place in this day and age. And just to add insult to injury, then the dubbing was atrociously bad.

The panda cub in the movie was CGI animated, and not impressively so.

What keeps the movie afloat and elevated from being a total bottom scraper, is the archetypical Jackie Chan action and stunts.

My rating of "Panda Plan" lands on a three out of ten stars.

Bad CG. Bad writing. Bad... everything. A high budget, low effort project designed to appeal to those with little to no expectations.

Barely even scraps by as a silly ride for children with gags and jokes that very rarely lands on target.

And our poor little panda. A poor excuse of a bundle of pixels, which would look great and adorable on its own, but it is cheaply shoved it into scenes, as if it was another unwelcomed Chinese actress there to appeal to impressionable men for the mainland.

Come to think of it, this whole project stinks of someone who had money hell bent on making a movie because he had a genius idea... that nobody believed in.

Upside? Seems like they had fun making the movie.

Good for them.

Uniquely looking panda bear Hu Hu is born at Noah Zoo amusement park. An Arab prince is willing to pay any price for it. Soon, criminals are trying to kidnap Hu Hu for the bounty. Movie star Jackie Chan gets invited to adopt Hu Hu. He, his agent, and the zookeeper try to save the panda from the criminals.

This film has Jackie Chan going to an amusement park. I would hate going to this all-panda themed park. It looks modern and dead inside. Then there are the CGI animals. I'm not necessarily talking about Hu Hu. I understand the need for some CGI on that. It is all the other unnecessary fake-looking CGI animals in the background. Talk about dead inside. I do appreciate that Jackie tries to do some of his action stunts. He's an old man and shouldn't be expected to do that much. I did laugh once when the girl asks him those two questions. It's a funny safe meta joke. On the other hand, I do not like the ending where they try to salvage the villain. It completely destroys the stakes. All in all, this is pretty bad.

Watching Panda Plan was one of the most painfully cringe-inducing experiences I've had in a long time. Jackie Chan is a global icon, a legend who's given us decades of unforgettable action and charm. So how did we end up here? This film is a baffling mess that feels more like a propaganda puff piece than a movie.

The plot is nonexistent, the dialogue is insultingly bad, and Jackie-who we know can deliver so much more-looks like he's going through the motions with a forced smile. The whole thing reeks of pandering, with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Honestly, what does the CCP have on Jackie to make him embarrass himself like this?