Today’s quick review: The Adventures of Panda Warrior. Patrick (Rob Schneider), a cowardly soldier, finds himself transformed into a panda and taken to Merryland, a mythical world of talking animals and magic. There he teams up with Peggy Skyflyer (Lauren Elizabeth), a flatulent flying pig, and a motley team of animal warriors to free Merrlyand from the Evil Master (Derek Stephen Prince) and his Phantom Army.
The Adventures of Panda Warrior is a budget animated family fantasy adventure. Rob Schneider stars as a legendary warrior destined to save a magical land from a great evil. The movie starts with a generic premise and only gets shakier from there. Lazy world-building, unappealing character designs, cheap CGI, and disjointed writing all contribute to a rough viewing experience with practically no redeeming qualities.
One of the highlights of animated family films is their art, and this is where The Adventures of Panda Warrior is most lacking. The movie obviously has a low budget and it compounds the problem with a series of bad design choices that undermine what little appeal it has. Patrick and his friends are meant to be a colorful team of fighting animals, but their designs are incoherent and their animation is awkward at the best of times.
Narratively, The Adventures of Panda Warrior fares just as poorly. The setup—a soldier sucked into another world where he learns to be brave—would be passable if the movie did anything to build on it. Instead, the movie spends its time jumping from one idea to the next without any rhyme or reason. Patrick’s adventures consist of a series of battles with the Evil Master’s minions, none of which carry any weight or contribute to the larger plot.
The end result is a bland, unsuccessful movie that never gets out of the starting gate. The Adventures of Panda Warrior goes through the motions of a fantasy adventure without any of the qualities that make the genre work. Younger audiences may get something out of the fact that it is animated, but children who are old enough to understand even basic stories will be better off with one of the many other animated films out there.
For a much higher-quality take on a superficially similar premise, try Kung Fu Panda. For a more endearing low-budget action fantasy movie with derivative elements, try Ator, the Fighting Eagle or In the Name of the King. For an animated adventure of similarly dubious caliber, try The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue.
[1.7 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5779650/). I give it a 2.5 for low production values and a lifeless story.