China: The Panda Adventure

i love IMAX films, and yes, they are judged by a different standard...that is because they are supposed to exploit the potential they have in virtue of the format...beautiful scenery, panoramic shots, aerial views...etc, etc,.. this film didn't do that so much because the focus was more on this Hollywood-style story, which i found a waste of time....not to mention the fact that the story is thoroughly romanticized. i would have loved more footage of the pandas and/or the Himalayas (the shots that WERE included made the film worthwhile). IMAX films should not try to pander to people who can't get enough of Hollywood...go to blockbuster for that junk!! the film about the Bengal tigers in India was far more impressive..

So I watched an IMAX film. These films have a surprisingly low budget. Not only that, but are surprisingly short by film standards. They could pass for individual one hour programs without a flinch.

This one centers on a widow who travels to China to save pandas. She races against a man that propagates the error that pandas are dangerous. Seemingly he also has something to do with her husbands untimely death. And, of course, she wins near the end.

There are a couple of scenes where it was obviously filmed in front of a green screen. But its IMAX, they can get away with that. Plus I learned slightly! Yay! Overall, its average. Its bad acting is overlapped by a short script and descent plot. "C"

Absolutely love documentaries and documentary films, especially nature ones. Have always found pandas beautiful and personality filled animals that are not shown enough in documentaries generally. There are a lot of good IMAX nature documentaries out there, having seen many short films over the past year or so that are visually stunning and informative despite being generally too short. China is also a wonderfully exotic and culturally fascinating place.

'China: The Panda Adventure' somehow despite all that potential didn't do it for me. It didn't strike me as awful and a few things are done very well. It is sadly a case of that a vast majority of the most crucial areas to get right are not done well at all, and on the whole as a documentary film 'China: The Panda Adventure' is a failure. An interesting one, but a failure nonetheless. This is being said with regret, hate being critical and the potential was quite big but somehow the execution was too little.

There are things done right. On the whole, 'China: The Panda Adventure' is very good looking. The scenery of course is stunning and the colour is full of vibrancy and atmosphere, all shot slickly and beautifully with nice varied camera techniques. Particularly the aerial shots.

Furthermore, the pandas are absolutely adorable and have such great personalities of a wide variety of emotions. Maria Bello acquits herself quite nicely.

Did find the rest of the acting rather one dimensional in very limited and stereotypical roles, Johnston coming off worst. Would have liked less of the human scenes and more of the pandas, the film does come to life when they are seen and it dulls when they are not as focused upon. When it comes to the educational aspect, the film doesn't work. Personally didn't learn very much new at all and there actually could have been a lot more of a documentary feel and less of the romanticised Hollywood-ish storytelling that can be too cute and heavy handed.

Conflict is predictable and lacks tension and the dialogue is mundane and cheesy with a tendency to preach. The music could have been less in use and in sound and stylistically it doesn't quite gel particularly well. While most of the visuals are fine, there are imperfections, with some blurry shots and effects that lack focus and too relied upon when strictly speaking there wasn't really any need for them.

Summing up, underwhelming. 4/10.

There are very few IMAX movies that i have not seen--and China:The Panda

Adventure (CTPA) is one of the best. i don't think most people go to IMAX

expecting to see a mainline Hollywood-like production. IMAX movies are judged differently, in my opinion. An IMAX movie should make the best possible use of the large-screen format, and the focus of the presentation should be on the visual. CTPA does this extremely well.

It's true that the acting is not outstanding, but i did not go to CTPA to see Robert Redford. i went to see pandas and the stunning scenery of China. i was not

disappointed.

The last IMAX presentation i saw was "Amazing Caves," and i was immensely

disappointed. If you had seen the trailer, you had seen everything worthwhile in the movie. And if that English scientist/diver/narrator said one more time how

important it was to find bacteria so she could "cure new diseases," i would have screamed.

CTPA is done with a deft touch, with good narration and dialog and, as i said, stunning cinematography. It's a treat for the whole family. The fact that there's a "story-line" is just icing on the cake.