Plan B: Scheiß auf Plan A

This film truly is a miracle. Why, you want to ask? Well, consider this:

It is the year 2017, and action cinema is struggling. We've seen "Taken", we've seen Jason Bourne come back to the silver screen, we keep seeing all those Disney movies coming out, and while they all have to offer a lot of production value, they all fail at one single thing: the action.

See, when it comes to action, good stuff is hard to come by. That is because it is hard and expensive to film good action. I'm not talking about those cut orgies like in "Taken" or the "Bourne" movies, I'm talking about believable action like in "John Wick" or, ultimately, the good old Hong Kong stuff. Yes, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao would all be proud to see that some unknown German filmmakers understood what they tried to show the world. "Plan B" offers some fight scenes that you won't find in any contemporary film in the western world, and I know that's a bold statement, only amplified by the fact that this is a German film. And since the action team behind "Plan B" has some experience in the Hollywood stunt world, it's probably no wonder that someone like Heidi Moneymaker (stunt double for Scarlett Johansson in "The Avengers" and wife of "John Wick" director Chad Stahelski) makes a well-choreographed and outright amazing appearance in the film. After seeing her, I half expected Keanu Reeves to pop into frame, give some dry one-liner and walk away. But let's not divert too much.

The acting is OK to good (with some exceptions), the cinematography excellent, the soundtrack an astonishing time travel back to the 80s, the atmosphere somewhat reminding of a modern fairy-tale and the action is a blast! Forget these narrow shaky cam shots we all know and hate - this time you get your ten beat combos filmed in wide shots, lots of awfully hard falls and breath-taking speed and precision. It's like Hong Kong action cinema suddenly re-spawned in Berlin, Germany!

The story isn't the highlight of "Plan B", but it still offers more than just a playground for some fights to happen. We have pretty colorful characters, a lovely retro feeling with awesome music, some juicy gangster intrigue and some nice twists - and I honestly haven't seen those in any Jackie Chan movie yet. So don't listen to the nay-sayers, grab a big bag of popcorn, an ice-cold six pack and enjoy one of the most unusual German films of the decade! 7/10!

When I first walked into this film, I had no idea what to expect. I had never heard of this film and just watched it because I had already bought a festival pass at the Saskatoon Fantastic Film Festival.

Let me pre-face this review by saying that I grew up on action films and martial arts cinema. When I watched Plan B, I was blown away. The main attraction of the film is of course it's martial arts - and it is AMAZING. The fight scenes are like a throwback to the days of Bruce Lee and early Jet Li in that it isn't filled with headache-inducing cuts but all fight scenes are from mostly a single side-camera view. The athleticism, speed and power of the three main characters are a sight to behold. Out of the three, the star is Korean-German Cha Lee Yoon who is every bit as good as current Tony Jaa or Iko Uwais. That's not to take away from Can Aydin and Phong Giang, who are both also tremendous. Part of the reason why the action is so great is because the Reel Deal stunt crew is just that, a real stunt team made up of these three magnetic young men.

It's not just the martial arts though - these three stuntmen are loaded with charisma and the film is funny as hell. You can really notice that these three guys are best friends in real life. The film is loaded which hilarious moments interspersed between the incredible action sequences and the acting is very good as well.

Overall, this film has the best martial arts sequences in recent memory, especially for a western film. I highly recommend it for anybody who is a fan of martial arts, comedy or action films.

Nice film with funny and cool elemnts. worth to watch with friends, family, alone..

Only bad thing I noticed was that the dialouge is a little bit clipped, so the whole film doesn't look real, more like scripted.



sorry for bad english.. am german

Plan B: Scheiß auf Plan A is my first action movie from German and while that fact don't add anything to the enjoyment I got out from the movie it definitely add Germany onto my list of action movie from country that I will look forward to in the future. The movie is very tongue in cheek and driven by old action movie and 80s culture when one of the main character Can casually recreate Stallone iconic catchphrase: You are the disease...... from Cobra in German anytime he wants. The plot is not original but again I don't think most people watch action movie for the plot so the chemistry between the four main character and the action are what make this movie worth watching in my opinion.

I'm a huge fan of tacky 80's stuff. Give me the synths, give me the neon lights, the glaring colors. I'm also a huge fan of ridiculous movies that don't take themselves to seriously and that are shockful of over-the-top-action. "Plan B: Scheiss auf Plan A" has both... the 80's vibes and the ridiculous action, but nevertheless I found myself disappointed.

The story is simple: Three friends who are stunt men and their agent accidentally get tangled up in a crime plot surrounding the evil crime lord "Gabriel". In an almost video-game-like manner, the four friends have to fight through four stages to find Gabriel's safe. While they are hunting down Gabriel's treasures, they are also being chased by the police...

There's a lot to like about this movie. First and foremost the fact that this is a great action piece that doesn't come out of the usual mainstream Hollywood circles and that therefore breathes some fresh air into the genre. And then the whole 80's nostalgia and the general style, which is beautifully extravagant.

That said, the plot is far too random, even for a movie that takes obvious inspiration from B movies. A little more coherence would have been necessary. Moreover, while the action is INTERESTING, it is also not compelling—and that's ultimately the movie's downfall since action is what you're really in for with 'Plan B'. Our three stunt men protagonists (all of which are actually stunt men in Hollywood) certainly have a great sense of physicality, but the fight choreographies are a little disingenuous and at times genuinely boring. A lot of straightforward hitting and kicking, but relatively little variety. Also, on the acting front: While our three stunt men are quite likable characters and you do relate to them, the whole energy between the group members seems a little fake and unconvincing. And some of the jokes they make amongst each other are rather dull...

My recommendation is to watch this movies with friends to have a few good laughs over a beer. It's not a must-see, but it's certainly fun and short-lived background entertainment, made with a cool sense of style.