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Stars: Jackie Chan, Wei Xiang, Han Yanbo, Temur Mamisashvili, Shi Ce | Written by Meng Yida, Xu Wei | Directed by Zhang Luan

Directed by Zhang Luan, Panda Plan is the latest vehicle for international action superstar Jackie Chan, who, at 70 years old, continues to defy the physical limitations of age (and science) with his trademark blend of martial arts and slapstick comedy. The film sees Chan playing a more animated version of himself with a meta twist that both celebrates and gently mocks his decades-long career. The premise is simple yet absurd. Jackie, the beloved movie star, adopts a rare baby panda named Hu Hu at a zoo, only to find himself embroiled in a rescue mission when mercenaries attempt to kidnap the dodgy CGI critter for a mysterious Middle Eastern client.

The film starts with a self-aware action sequence, a chaotic shootout in a church that’s revealed to be...

Jackie Chan has done it again. After “A Legend,” he has released another bad film, and it is not entirely clear why he made it in the first place. With “Panda Plan,” he is doing even more damage to his extensive and glorious work. Its audience success was also quite modest. With production costs of $25 million, “Panda Plan” grossed just $36 million. That’s really not great, especially bearing in mind that the film was released on China’s national holiday on October 1, 2024, and considering that it was obviously intended as a family film.

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As soon as you say “family film,” you wonder how the first scenes of “Panda Plan” fit into this concept. The movie starts with a wild shootout in a church, clearly inspired by John Woo‘s action classics. But wait! It’s a film set, and Jackie only...

Stars: Jackie Chan, Wei Xiang, Han Yanbo, Temur Mamisashvili, Shi Ce | Written by Meng Yida, Xu Wei | Directed by Zhang Luan

Panda Plan (aka Xiong Mao Ji Hua) opens on a highly meta note as action star Jackie Chan, played by Jackie Chan takes out an entire squad of terrorists while filming a scene for his latest film. After wondering if he’s supposed to be playing a superhero, he and his agent David review a list of possible off-screen activities. That list includes a housewarming party at Stallone’s new mansion and a celebrity golf tournament.

Jackie passes on all of them to accept an offer from the Noah Zoo to adopt Big Babe, their media star baby panda. What they don’t know is that the leader of what appears to be the evil equivalent of The Untouchables has been offered $100,000,000 to pandanap Big Babe.

With his right hand man James in charge,...

“Agent 86,” a rare China-Tunisia coproduction film, will have its world premiere on Friday in Tunisia, ahead of a commercial release in Tunisian theaters from Sept. 25.

The film is pitched as “a fast-paced action thriller following an international Special Task Force that comes together to fight cross border drug trafficking after a devastatingly addictive drug named Devil’s Breath goes on sale in Hong Kong.”

The driving force behind the movie is Tunisian actor-director Bassem Khayati, who produced and directed the film and also appears as its co-lead.

Khayati is a veteran of several Jackie Chan movies including “Dragon Blade,” “Kung Fu Yoga” and “Vanguard,” as well as action roles in numerous other Chinese titles including “Fox Hunting,” “Mojin, The Lost Legend” and “Go Away Mr. Tumor.” In the west, Khayati has had various action and stunt roles in the John Cena-starring “Hidden Strike,” the Scott Adkins-starring “Abduction” and...

Stars: Wu Jing, Wang Zhi, Andy Lau, Zina Blahusova, Clara Lee, Liya Tong, Matias Lorieri, Jeremiah Blakely, Temur Mamisashvili, Yanmanzi Zhu | Written by Gong Geer, Frant Gwo, Cixin Liu, Hongwei Wang, Ruchang Ye, Yang Zhixue | Directed by Frant Gwo

Released in 2019 The Wandering Earth became one of the largest grossing non-English language films in history, mostly on the strength of its performance in its native China. Of course, that made The Wandering Earth II inevitable. The only surprises are that rather than a sequel it’s a prequel, telling the story of the Moving Mountain Project that turned Earth into a giant spaceship and that it manages to be even longer than the original, coming in at just under three hours.

At the film’s start, The United Earth Government (Ueg) has been established and work on the first of the thousands of giant engines needed to move Earth out...