Panda Plan: The Magical Tribe - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Panda Plan: The Magical Tribe



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:




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Movie
Oh boy, my heard just hurts after this one. Have any of you watched a movie by an iconic actor and wonder if they lost a bet, or they were only doing this as a humiliation ritual because they owed someone a LOT of money (think Nic Cage circa 2010-2023)? Well that’s what the Panda Plan series (can it really be called a series with only two films so far?) seems to be for Jackie Chan. If you’ve paid attention to any of my reviews regarding Hong Kong cinema you know that Jackie Chan is sort of an iconic figure for me. I grew up in the 90s when he became an overnight superstar, and he, Van Damme, and Sammo Hung were the inspiration to get into martial arts in my teens. I watched pretty much every film the man has ever done, and while not every film of his was a hit, they were generally at least fun and watchable. But after the early 2010’s, Jackie pretty much fell into his twilight years, where the aging acting star was no longer getting called for big name films. And lets face it, the guy gave until he LITERALLY bled for over 5 decades in action cinema. But Panda Plan: The Magical Tribe acts as a visual warning that everyone in cinema has a sell by date, and Chan sadly seems to have passed his several times over the last 15 years.

If you want to get a grasp on my feelings for the sequel, you can just recall my 1.5/5 rating for 2024’s Panda Plan and just paste that over the top of this review and skip it. If not, then here we go. Jackie (Jackie Chan) is basically playing himself as the protector of the CGI panda Hu Hu from the very first film. But instead of rescuing him from a group of eco terrorists, Jackie is transporting the panda when the little bugger escapes in the middle of a Chinese forest. Leaping out of the van and racing after the little guy, both Hu Hu and Jackie end up in an indigenous village who just so happens to worship pandas. Pulling a C-3P0 from Return of the Jedi, the villagers are more than happy to tie Jackie up and give adoration to their deity come down to bless them.

However, a giant storm forms overhead, terrifying the villagers enough to reveal their sacred scrolls that state the Panda must be taken to the top of the Awe Summit where he will dispel the catastrophe by speaking to the gods. And due to Hu Hu having a great relationship with Jackie, the aging action star is called upon to trek across the forest and up into the great mountain. That is, if he can stave off the jealous sone of the Chief (Li Ma winking and nodding at the camera in her role as village leader), a group of assassins, and of course his own issues.

Panda Plan: The Magical Tribe is about 3x as bad as how I’m describing it here. The movie is a train wreck of slapstick comedy that just doesn’t stop, cheesy animated vignettes, a CGI panda that looks faker than my smile when I visit my mother in law, and of course Jackie Chan limping his way through the film. On one hand I don’t blame Jackie for being the problem here. Dude is 72 years old and has broken more bones that most people have in their entire body. The man has given his body for the craft, but there just has to be a time where you look at a project coming across your desk and say “nah, I think I’m good”. Honestly, there is no saving this mess of a movie. Everyone is giving their all, but like Thor: Love and Thunder you feel like the actors were having a blast on set, while not caring how the actual film turned out. It’s just that bad.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

Panda Plan: The Magical Tribe looks great on Blu-ray, with a 1.85:1 framed digital shoot that looks effectively glossy and detail heavy no matter how bad the film itself is. Giving everything a bright glow, primary shades just pop off the screen (especially the green of the jungle foliage, or the red and blue paint on the villagers). Fine details are excellent all the way around, and sometimes a bit TOO excellent when it comes to not being able to hide Jackie’s age on screen. The CGI for the panda looks a bit wonky as usual, but that’s par for the course when it comes to their CGI on these budget films. There’s a few shots that are murky INSIDE the dimness of the jungle, but overall this is a very pleasing image with no apparent banding.







Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD tracks (one in Mandarin, one in English dub) are equally as good as the image is, with a bass heavy mix that is way more energetic and active than I was initially expecting. This is a bold track that makes great use of surrounds out in the forest (dripping rain, cracking thunder, the rustle of leaves as people run through the foliage) and dialog is crystal clear. LFE is the clear winner here, adding some impressive shakes and booms throughout the film, ranging from the storm at the beginning to slamming of rocks rolling down hill. It’s a bass bomb in a film that just doesn’t seem to be the type of flick that really warrants it, but I’m not complaining at all. It just makes a good audio mix great and makes the bass head in me happy as a clam.










Extras:

• Well Go USA Trailers
• Preview

Final Score: ​

Burn it, sacrifice it on an alter, or skip it in entirely. But whatever you do, don’t go into Panda Plan: The Magical Tribe expecting this to be a fun Jackie Chan movie. I try to look for the best in every one of his films, but I just don’t have the ability to do that here. This is one of those films where I wish I could get my money back, and I didn’t pay a cent to see this one! The Blu-ray looks and sounds great, with the typical “trailers only” extras that Well Go USA is known for, but nothing in this set could entice me to see this film again. So I have to give both thumbs down and warn you away from ever watching this UNLESS you’re a rabid completionist and own the first movie.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Jackie Chan, Li Ma, Shan Qiao, Rongguang Yu
Directed by: Derek Hui
Written by: Keyang Pan
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: Mandarin: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 5.1, Englsh, Mandarin DD 2.0
Subtitles: English, French
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 100 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: August 11th, 2026

Recommendation: Skip It