Panda Plan movie review: Jackie Chan meets CGI animals in a terrible action comedy

1/5 stars

Jackie Chan’s latest family-oriented action caper, Panda plan, closes with a title card stating that “no animals were harmed in the making of this film” before clarifying that “all animal characters are visual effects.”

The formal admission that the film’s animal star is a fabrication is completely unnecessary for anyone who has just suffered the indignity of having to endure this terrible excuse for family entertainment, and inadvertently confirms that the only vulnerable species on screen is the decidedly cracking protagonist.

Now turning 70, Chan has entered a chapter of his career in which his public persona overshadows any attempt at performance. So much so that in Panda plan the actor basically plays himself, and more than once is facilitated by characters because they are fans of Jackie Chan.

Along the way, Chan makes half-hearted attempts at humility, confessing to an opponent that he might not be quite the fighter he appears to be on screen, or making a running joke about his big nose.

But eventually Panda plan portrays Chan as an affable, heroic figure who repeatedly risks his life to protect a helpless symbol of Chinese sovereignty.