LOS ANGELES, April 13 (UPI) — Panda Plan was Jackie Chan’s Die Hard in a zoo. Unlike Bruce Willis, the same thing can’t happen to the same panda twice so Panda Plan 2: The Magical Tribe, in theaters Friday, takes the action back to the panda’s natural habitat.
Chan returns Jackie, as he’s often been named in movies since the ’90s. Since panda Hu Hu was returned to the jungle after the zoo, Jackie travels to visit him.
An indigenous tribe chases Jackie and Hu Hu through the jungle and believes Hu Hu was foretold to climb Awe Summit and save them from an impending catastrophe. Since Jackie is friends with Hu Hu, the tribe believes he is the messenger sent with Hu Hu.
Going back to nature makes Panda Plan 2 more like Crocodile Dundee 2 than Die Hard 2, but it is better than Dundee 2. Though not as inspired as the fight scenes in and around zoo exhibits, Chan still choreographs funny fights with multiple opposing agendas.
The Chieftain’s (Ma Li) son, Tu Tu (Yu Yang) leads some of the tribesmen to thwart Chan and Hu Hu because they want to be the saviors. Fight scenes utilize their set and weapons. In one, the tribe wants Hu Hu to climb a pole for a trial, and Jackie just wants to stop the tribespeople from prodding the animal with spears.
Ma Li plays the Chieftain in “Panda Plan 2: The Magical Tribe,” in theaters Friday. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA
The fights are a tad shorter than Chan’s ’90s performances, but it is remarkable that he barely even slowed down before his 70s. Now he’s eased back into normally thrilling fights rather than the overwhelmingly awesome ones he treated us to for decades.
The content is still more clever than most basic Hollywood fight scenes. Once Chan and Hu Hu venture out, another fight involves a river raft pursuit in which Chan can use the current and paddles to evade attackers.
Yang Yu stars in “Panda Plan 2: The Magical Tribe,” in theaters Friday. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA
The tribe moves with more wirework and CGI defying gravity like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. However, this is a comedy so they are more akin to the live action cartoon antics of Kung Fu Hustle.
The tribal shenanigans are somewhat a retread of Who Am I?‘s sequence with the African tribe. In Panda Plan 2 they are here for the entire movie, and happen to speak the same Mandarin language as Chan.
Yinglu Wang stars in “Panda Plan 2: The Magical Tribe,” in theaters Friday. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA
The first hour of the film remains in the tribe’s camp, and though that hour is still filled with action and comedy, one wishes they’d get on with the journey sooner. There is a brief dance number in that first hour though.
Hu Hu is animated with CGI, and while never convincing as a real panda, he’s cute. The end credits have no outtakes from stunts gone wrong. Instead they include more original scenes.
Zidong Zhang stars in “Panda Plan 2: The Magical Tribe,” in theaters Friday. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA
Panda Plan 2 stretches credibility more than the original, but still has fun thinking up absurd scenarios for Chan and a panda. If the Hu Hu effect is established now they could keep putting the duo in more outrageous adventures but the horse from Ride On deserves a sequel too.
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.
Shan Qiao stars in “Panda Plan 2: The Magical Tribe,” in theaters Friday. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA