This film truly is a miracle. Why, you want to ask? Well, consider this:
It is the year 2017, and action cinema is struggling. We've seen "Taken", we've seen Jason Bourne come back to the silver screen, we keep seeing all those Disney movies coming out, and while they all have to offer a lot of production value, they all fail at one single thing: the action.
See, when it comes to action, good stuff is hard to come by. That is because it is hard and expensive to film good action. I'm not talking about those cut orgies like in "Taken" or the "Bourne" movies, I'm talking about believable action like in "John Wick" or, ultimately, the good old Hong Kong stuff. Yes, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao would all be proud to see that some unknown German filmmakers understood what they tried to show the world. "Plan B" offers some fight scenes that you won't find in any contemporary film in the western world, and I know that's a bold statement, only amplified by the fact that this is a German film. And since the action team behind "Plan B" has some experience in the Hollywood stunt world, it's probably no wonder that someone like Heidi Moneymaker (stunt double for Scarlett Johansson in "The Avengers" and wife of "John Wick" director Chad Stahelski) makes a well-choreographed and outright amazing appearance in the film. After seeing her, I half expected Keanu Reeves to pop into frame, give some dry one-liner and walk away. But let's not divert too much.
The acting is OK to good (with some exceptions), the cinematography excellent, the soundtrack an astonishing time travel back to the 80s, the atmosphere somewhat reminding of a modern fairy-tale and the action is a blast! Forget these narrow shaky cam shots we all know and hate - this time you get your ten beat combos filmed in wide shots, lots of awfully hard falls and breath-taking speed and precision. It's like Hong Kong action cinema suddenly re-spawned in Berlin, Germany!
The story isn't the highlight of "Plan B", but it still offers more than just a playground for some fights to happen. We have pretty colorful characters, a lovely retro feeling with awesome music, some juicy gangster intrigue and some nice twists - and I honestly haven't seen those in any Jackie Chan movie yet. So don't listen to the nay-sayers, grab a big bag of popcorn, an ice-cold six pack and enjoy one of the most unusual German films of the decade! 7/10!
