Gary
The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.
Geraldine
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Fleur
Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.
Phillipa
Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
Roedy Green
The boy-hero is a brat. He is American and imagines this entitles him to royal treatment. He is somewhat contemptuous of anything different. He sees the words only through his own eyes, only through his desires. He is selfish.His father is a work-aholic Panda researcher who repeatedly forgets that his son exists.The mother is an airhead.The movie is filmed in China, in places far more beautiful that you would have imagine existed, turquoise lakes, mist-shrouded mountains, gorges. The differentness of China in every respect is just so juicy including the livestock.I have no idea how they pulled of the special effects without killing someone, falling from creaking wooden bridges, falling over cliffs, being swept downstream in torrents, riding a runaway horse cart... They never let you get your breath before some other calamity overtook our heroes.Most of the dialogue is in Chinese without subtitles, though sometimes the young female translator gives you a bowdlerised version. You get sense of what they are saying from the tone of voice.Much of the fun comes from the dialogue between the translator and Ryan. They have such different world views, they are constantly misunderstanding each other. He talks about "bull" and she assumed he had switched the topic to livestock.Certain things did not make sense. How could a weaning baby panda stay alive for many days without any food? How could Ryan Slater manage to carry the bear mile upon mile. It was half as big as he was. Surely he would have to rest every 10 feet or so especially when climbing. Maybe it was just a stuffed toy. What are the odds a watch battery would be the same as one needed for a tracking collar? What are the odds you could remove a watch battery without tools?
Ryan DiGiorgi
Boy this was awful. Really really bad. I think the scene that best embodies how unrealistic and moronic this film truly is, would be the one in which the two main characters (who are only about 14) find themselves covered with leeches, and so they spontaneously take off all their clothes and jump in a river, and then look SURPRISED that they've done so. Like they didn't realize that this was a stupid idea WHILE they were doing it. Now we get to sit and watch as the movie awkwardly bumbles its way through the "I'm a guy, you're a girl, we're accidentally naked" schtick. Just shoot me with one of those Panda tranq darts and put me out of my misery. Granted, this film did its job of keeping the kids I was with interested, but unlike most Disney films and other modern flicks geared towards young children, it had nothing to keep the adults even remotely interested. I think the reason that this movie takes place in Hong Kong, is because it's actually a form of ancient Asian torture. Avoid this like the plague. And if you have to choose, take the plague.
Wizard-8
The movie offers a rare glimpse into China's countryside (looks spectacular), and the pandas are pretty cute (when they show the real McCoy, and not the animatronics). Aside from that, this is a slow, almost pointless movie. The American kid is very annoying, and I wished he'd fall off one of those gorgeous mountains. The Chinese girl is a little better, but her character is weak - they never explain how come her English is so good. The chemistry between both these kids is pretty much nil. At the end, they don't seem to be either friends, rivals, or anything else.Some viewers may be offended by the way the Tibetian people are portrayed - there's no evidence of the persecution they are under. The poachers are not scary or interesting as well. I grew tired of hearing the same bars of music over and over, and I grew tired of seeing the same shots over and over! I think even kids may be frustrated with this movie.
Bengt74
Ryan Slater is a very good actor.All the pandas in the movie are very cute.If you like a movie with both people and animals in you should see this movie.