By John Liu

NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

It’s a documentary on pandas! I get excited just writing that. This movie wastes no time flooding the screen with panda cuteness with images of baby pandas who are too young to move. Apparently, baby pandas are stationary for the first three months of their lives.

While kids will get their fill of pandas roaming in cool 3D environments, the documentary paints a bleak picture of a panda’s struggle to survive. With only 2,000 pandas left in the world, drastic measures need to be taken to keep them from going extinct. This film is appropriately narrated by Kristen Bell — who is well known as the voice of Anna in Disney’s blockbuster movie Frozen, and lover of many animals. Who can forget Bell’s hilarious sloth meltdown on the Ellen Degeneres show in 2012? If you do not know what I’m talking about, you need to watch it online.

The documentary follows a panda named Qian Qian, who was bred in captivity. Rong Hou, a Chinese scientist, is desperately trying to find a solution for pandas to survive in the wild. She requests the help of wildlife biologist Dr. Owens and Bi Wen Lei, who have been working with Qian Qian since she was a cub. Owens and Lei then start allowing Qian Qian to slowly venture out on her own.

The 3D on the gigantic IMAX screen was remarkable! The bamboo forests filled the screen and made me want to jump into the screen to play with the cute pandas. 3D bugs zoomed right at the camera and caused me to blink many times. There were multiple scenes of pandas climbing on branches protruding right at the screen. As a 3D aficionado, this was some of the best 3D I’ve seen all year.

I highly recommend this movie to everyone. Families should bring their kids. They will have a great time! Pandas 3D is playing in 33 theaters, so we are extremely lucky to have the opportunity to catch it at the Pacific Science Center Boeing Imax at Seattle Center. It’s currently playing only at 10:30 a.m. and 11:45 a.m., because a little movie called Avengers: Infinity War is taking up all the other showtimes this month.

John can be reached at john@nwasianweekly.com.