THE AMAZING PANDA ADVENTURE
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 6.7
United States, 1995 U.S. Availability: 8/25/95 (wide) Running Length: 1:24 MPAA Classification: PG (Nothing offensive) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Ryan Slater, Yi Ding, Stephen Lang Director: Christopher Cain Producers: Lee Rich, John Wilcox, Gary Foster, and Dylan Sellers Screenplay: Jeff Rothberg and Laurice Elehwany Cinematography: Jack N. Green Music: William Ross U.S. Distributor: Warner Brothers
To date, there have been countless variations of the "boy and his dog" theme, using every animal from man's best friend to a whale. THE AMAZING PANDA ADVENTURE transplants the LASSIE story to China and replaces the collie with a panda cub. In reality, the only amazing thing about this motion picture is Jack N. Green's impressive camerawork, which constantly allows the scenery to upstage both two and four-legged performers.
As a family film, THE AMAZING PANDA ADVENTURE is more-than-suitable. It's reasonably entertaining with some not-so-bad acting, energetic action sequences, and dialogue that doesn't sound like it was scripted for (or by) morons. Children will be enraptured by the cute animals and adults won't be put off by unbearable doses of treacle. Despite the happy ending, this film doesn't go overboard when it comes to cute bonding scenes. They're there, to be sure, but they don't take up 50% of the screen time.
The storyline itself is rather thin, and is primarily designed as a means to get an American boy, a Chinese girl, and a panda out in the wilderness by themselves. Ryan (Ryan Slater) is the product of a broken home. He lives with his mother in America while his father, Michael (Stephen Lang), runs a panda reserve in China. One spring, Ryan receives a round trip ticket for a visit. When he arrives, the reserve is in the midst of a crisis. Poachers have honed in on a panda mother and cub, and Michael, along with his assistants, Ling (Yi Ding) and Chu (Wong Fei), is off to the rescue. Refusing to be left behind, Ryan joins the expedition. After a number of complications, Ling and Ryan rescue the captured panda cub, but become separated from the others. Now, out in the middle of the wilderness, they must fight their way back to the reserve while being pursued by a pair of poachers who are willing to kill to retrieve the cub.
Taken as light fare, this movie succeeds. The best scenes, as might be expected, are those that highlight the pandas. Attempts at human character building vary from marginal to dumb. Fortunately, these demand minimal screen time. Rick Baker's creature shop, which designed the "panda effects", should be commended. In contrast to the apes from CONGO, these animals look legitimate from start to finish, and it's impossible to tell the real pandas from their fake counterparts.
Occasionally, THE AMAZING PANDA ADVENTURE stabs at serious issues, such as protecting endangered species and respecting other cultures, but director Christopher Cain seems primarily interested in telling this adventure yarn without cluttering the screen with "extraneous" matters. As a result, an opportunity to do something a little more substantial may have been missed. Then again, substance isn't the strength of THE AMAZING PANDA ADVENTURE, while sweeping vistas and furry animals are.
Theatrically, THE AMAZING PANDA ADVENTURE has been packaged with a Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck cartoon, "Carrotblanca." Despite its attempts to parody the classic film CASABLANCA, this turns out to be one of the most unimaginative, unamusing Warner Brothers cartoons in decades. Outside of Tweety Bird's Peter Lorre impersonation, it's a waste of 8 minutes. Apparently, if you want to see good Bugs Bunny, you have to stick to TV.
- James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com)
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