'90s Kids Movie Club: THE AMAZING PANDA ADVENTURE

 by Adam Riske

It’s amazing. It’s right there in the title!

If there’s one thing I champion above all else here at the ‘90s Kids Movie Club, it’s the underdog kids’ film. By that I mean a movie like The Amazing Panda Adventure that seems to have a limited audience, no stars or fast-food tie-in, and a “whatever” late August release date. Kids are nervous about going back to school in late August. They don’t have time for an amazing panda adventure. In turn, a movie like The Amazing Panda Adventure becomes this wounded bird (excuse me, panda) that must be nursed back to health over time by people like me. It’s the type of late August movie you at most see with one friend in theaters and you’re probably not even friends with that kid anymore by the end of the school year. This is a movie to reflect on while looking out the window on a rainy day or maybe years later your wedding day when your mind wanders to late August 1995 and think “We really did have it all, didn’t we?”

The Amazing Panda Adventure tells the story of 10-year-old Ryan (played by Ryan Slater, the younger half-brother of Christian Slater) who travels to China to spend time with his distracted father (played by Stephen Lang, who says “panda” in a very satisfying way) who runs a panda reserve there. On the first day of his visit (during the kid’s spring break), Ryan and another young girl named Ling (played by Yi Ding) are separated from the adults and must protect the cub from poachers and reunite “Johnny” (the name they give the panda) to his mother at the reserve. The film was directed by Christopher Cain (The Principal, Young Guns, The Next Karate Kid), and shot beautifully by long time Clint Eastwood cinematographer Jack N. Green. Also worth noting is the amazing score by prolific composer/orchestrator William Ross. The craft on hand in The Amazing Panda Adventure is jaw dropping.

The script, on the other hand, is really goofy but therein lies a lot of its charm. Speaking of goofy, another thing I love about this movie is that the first hour seems to have been shot mostly with real pandas (who are adorable) but then there’s a hard shift in the last 30 minutes or so where the pandas are suddenly very unconvincing animatronics. I’m talking Amy the Gorilla in Congo level animatronics. Weirdly enough, they’re credited to the great makeup/special effects artist Rick Baker. Fun fact: I was in Los Angeles on vacation about 10 years ago and randomly stumbled onto a Rick Baker F/X Auction in the hotel I was staying in. I wasn’t sure if I could just go in so I didn’t but now I’m kicking myself because, who knows, maybe I could own an animatronic Johnny? Ugh. Regrets…I’ve had a few.

The best part of The Amazing Panda Adventure, though, is the performance of Ryan Slater. This is one of the most fascinating child performances I’ve ever seen on film. First, he has a glower that rivals Steve McQueen. The kid is pure mystique at times. Then at other times it’s like a kid performance by a non-professional actor. It goes back and forth from scene to scene. You can never take your eyes off this performance. You can read there’s an internal acting logic that makes sense to him but maybe not to mankind at large. It’s like “What is he doing? What is he going to do next? “Is he reinventing acting?” This is like the kid version of early ‘80s Mickey Rourke in Diner or The Pope of Greenwich Village. It’s all choices like when Marlon Brando improvised picking up Eva Marie Saint’s glove in On the Waterfront. Slater’s rapport with Yi Ding is a lot of fun. They have a semi-romantic energy, like in scenes where Slater tells her “I happen to be quite the ladies man.” Or when he asks her if she goes to places like the mall and has fun with friends and she shoots back “I don’t have time for fun. I’m busy working with pandas.” These kids are a winning pair. Later in the movie, Slater admits to Ding “I’m not really a ladies man” and she says “When you go to the mall, I bet a lot of girls want to go with you…maybe someday I visit America and you take me to go see the mall,” to which Slater coldly ignores her and switches to “I know every constellation up there…” It’s a Mickey Rourke moment. Just taking people’s vulnerability and responding with complete mercurial aloofness. Power move. Legend shit.

I know some of you are thinking “Yeah, yeah Adam…but what about the adventure you promised?” Well, I’ll tell you…do you like runaway horse drawn carts and wheelbarrows? The Amazing Panda Adventure has them. What about children climbing mountains? Look no further. Kids brawling with poachers? Roll up your sleeves. A panda flying through the air in slow motion? All you gotta do is put the disc in! It’s late August. You don’t have school anymore. Watch The Amazing Panda Adventure. In 30 years, maybe at your child’s wedding, you’ll remember that day and think “I happened to be quite the ladies’ man back then.”