Verdict
Summary
Plan B is the perfect example of how to do an indie action film; it has an amiable cast, fantastic action and leaves you wanting more.
Plot: When three young martial artists embark on a relentless treasure hunt in order to free their friend from the grasp of a ruthless gangster, they get entangled in a complex conspiracy staged to dethrone Berlin’s underworld kingpin.
Review: I only saw German martial arts comedy Plan B for the first time recently and I wish I had watched it sooner. It’s a love letter to classic 80’s action movies with references to the likes of Cobra, Die Hard, RoboCop, Rambo and more.
Our three heroes are played by Phong Giang, Can Aydin and Cha-Lee Yoon (using their real names in the film) with the help of their manager U-Gin (Eugene Boateng) who turn up for a movie audition but U-Gin was never good with numbers and they arrive at the wrong address. They stumble upon a kidnapping and Phong is taken captive; the three remaining friends have to follow a series of clues on a treasure hunt in order to save their friend and the kidnapped girl.
The plot has plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing which way it’s going to go and it has an energy to it giving it a huge sense of fun.
The fight scenes are better than pretty much any big budget Hollywood production of recent times where the camera pans back and allows our team to show off their impressive skills. Boy, can these guys move, with jaw dropping action scenes which keep the story exciting and moving along at a breezy pace.
Phong, Can, Cha and Eugene are all immediately sympathetic and you want them to succeed every step of the way. I particularly enjoyed Can’s obsession with Cobra although if he was that big a fan he would have quoted the line right. In the movie he says “You’re the sickness, I’m the cure” when it should be “You’re the disease, I’m the cure” but that’s just a minor quibble.
As much as I loved seeing Mike Moeller I thought the sequence in the graveyard wasn’t really necessary and the fact he was a supernatural being took me out of what was otherwise pretty much grounded in reality.
My favourite aspect of the movie however, was the music. Screeching electric guitars and drums which made the fight scenes even more epic had me smiling from beginning to end. If there’s a soundtrack available I must make it mine!
Overall, Plan B is one of the most entertaining indie action films I’ve seen for several years with fantastic fight scenes and a fun sense of humour. The cast give it their all and I anxiously await a Plan C.