Au secours du petit panda

My Take: Harmless yet decent family entertainment. Nothing more, nothing less.

Think MY DOG SKIP with a panda. Here, the little boy happens to be the son of zoologist with a devotion to a Chinese Panda reserve. What if the boy and his friend, daughter of his father's right hand man, happens to rescue a cute little Panda cub from two Chinese stereotype poachers? This is exactly what THE AMAZING PANDA ADVENTURE is about, and it does nothing else. While it isn't a great effort, and surely not above others of its craft, THE AMAZING PANDA ADVENTURE is entertaining, and basically perfect for an evening matinée with the kids.

Newcomer Ryan Slater plays the little kid visiting his zoologist father (Stephen Lang) in a Panda reserve, on the verge of being savaged by officious bureaucrats. He also gets his hands tangled with a plot to save a small Panda cub from the hands of two bumbling poachers, who happen to be Chinese for a change, no less. The movie has very little happening then on, except for mild peril and adventure. Trekking through forests and villages, dodging poachers until reaching into its finale, THE AMAZING PANDA ADVENTURE isn't exactly an exciting or terrific adventure, but for harmless family viewing, it isn't a bad shot at trying. The panda, by the way, is a convincing and cute alternating use of a real cub and a realistic animatronic puppet. The settings are also lush and captures the feel of the moments situations.

Regardless its shortcomings and weaknesses, THE AMAZING PANDA ADVENTURE is nonetheless harmlessly entertaining. Rent it for the kids.

Rating: *** out of 5.

I am outraged that these poor panda bears were put through so much torture to make this movie. Fortunately, the evidence is caught on tape. What you are about to see done to these animals for the sake of entertainment may shock you! The bears are shot at, dragged off of a bridge, tossed over a waterfall, dangled over a cliff, and virtually starved to death. The makers of this film as well as anyone who watches it should be ashamed of this dangerous and gratuitous exploitation of such poor helpless creatures. I have already alerted my congressman, Greenpeace, Ralph Nader and my Mommy. Hopefully a follow-up movie can be made showing the capture and incarceration of the producers...what? The bears are actually robots? Oops....

I watched this movie with friends and we laughed the whole way through. This would be fine, if the movie was a comedy, but instead its a bland and ultimately forgettable childrens flick. You can tell that RYAN only got the part because he was Christian Slaters brother, as he hams up the screen throughout its entirety. LING is certainly no better, her fake asian accent is pathetic, as is her acting ability. I realize they are only kids but there have been good child actors before, and these two aren't up to scratch. The real star of the show is the panda, it shows character throughout, especially in the scene when it attacks Ryan on the bridge. This of course excludes the scenes in which it is played by a robot, did the director actually think that thing looked like a real panda? Overall this film is bad, but watchable Family material. The kids will probably love it, but there are better films around. Rehire E.T., the Goonies, or even Toy story, these films are more sincere and watchable then this movie, and will actually be remembered in time to come.

Pretty average as far as family films go but it's totally harmless and good for all ages, especially young children. The best part of the film is the scenic shots of China's mountains and forests, and young kids will be delighted to see a cute baby panda bumbling around throughout most of the film. Overall, if you have children and don't want to expose them to more adult-oriented films, this one is a pretty safe and entertaining option.

A nice adventure in a chinese countryside,with breathtaking landscape, rivers and lakes absolutelly in clean waters, amazing Panda's cub, but the plot and the dialogues are boring and doesn't make sense, a lot of standard clichés, childish behavior, just for the kids!!! A little of imagination shall be better!!

Resume:

First watch: 1998 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 6