Several months ago when I heard that they were going to remake the classic movie "The Karate Kid" I was thinking, "Whaaa??" Then I heard that Jaden Smith (son of Will and Jada Smith) was going to be playing the role of the karate kid and I was thinking what a travesty this is going to be.
Then I saw the first trailer of the movie…yeah I was blown away! Every trailer I saw I thought what an amazing movie this HOPEFULLY will be. I mean let's be honest; I wasn't expecting this movie to be as good as the original. In many ways it isn't but in many ways it's better.
They follow the main storyline of the original 1984 movie where the boy moves from his home to a different location (Detroit to China), sees the pretty girl, gets in a fight with the wrong boy(s) and the maintenance man (Mr. Han) teaches him how to fight (even though the boy has no idea he is being taught Kung Fu.) Wax on wax off, paint the fence, sand the floor and paint the house is replaced by take off your jacket, hang up jacket, take jacket off (the hook), drop jacket, pick up jacket…and so on.
What was done well in the movie:
First and foremost is the fighting! If you thought the fighting in the original Karate Kid was good just wait until you see what's in store in this version. Sometimes it was hard to follow the fight sequences because of the camera angles and the closeness of the camera to the fighters but for the most part it was fabulous. The fighting in this movie was intense and I had the same feeling of emotion today as when I saw the original movie back when I was a teen. All I can say is "The Fighting Dragon" fighters would utterly destroy Johnny and his "Cobra Cai" band of brothers in a heartbeat. In fact, some of the fighting was hard to watch cuz it got kind of brutal in some areas.
Jaden Smith's fighting. I'm pretty sure that if you were to take the 12 year old Smith and put him up against the 16 year old Macchio (even though I'm sure he was closer to 20 when the movie came out) Smith would kick the living daylights out of Macchio! The kid is a fighter and has some amazing talent when it comes to fighting!
Jackie Chan. Yeah the guy has had several bombs in the theaters over the past several years (probably his best movie before this one was Rush Hour 2). Chan shows that he can take a serious role and make it work. The scene where he's sitting in the car with Dre (Smith) is heart wrenchingly good.
Cinematography was a big plus in this movie. Not only do you get to see some of the "slums" of China but you also get to see some breathtaking scenery. The scene where Mr. Han and Dre go up to drink from the Dragon Well is quite impressive!
Emotionally for me this movie did a great job. There was enough humor and heartfelt moments scattered throughout the movie to fill a person to the rim.
What was wrong with the movie:
I'd have to say that one of the biggest weaknesses was Jaden Smith's acting. He had some really good moments but then there were times where he showed that he still needs A LOT of practice in this business. Probably the worst moment for me in this movie was when Dre Parker (Smith) was lying on the bed after he had been injured in the tournament and he asks Mr. Han (Chan) if he thought he could win the fight. The scene in the 1984 version had Macchio pour his heart and soul out but Smith's performance in this scene had ZERO emotion and left you not wanting him to even get fixed to go out and continue fighting. There were also other scenes scattered throughout the movie where the same thing happened. But he's only 12 and it's only his second movie so I'm willing to look past this a little bit.
I thought the 2.5 hour length was a bit long by about 20 or so minutes and they could've shed some stuff in editing here and there. But I never really thought, "This movie is dragging!" I was never really bored in this movie.
Another thing that bothered me was the kissing scene. Smith has a kissing scene in the movie with the girl that he's fallen for and it's kind of weird to watch two 12 year olds kiss. Now the kiss is pretty mild (which is far better than the kiss that Macchio and Shue gave us in the parking lot of the "Golf and Stuff"- which has to be the most disgusting kiss in the history of cinema if you ask me!) But still, I felt a little uncomfortable watching this scene.
One thing that fell short in this movie was the relationship that Dre and Mr. Han had with each other. You can feel the connection they had at times but it never was up to par as it was for Daniel and Mr. Miagi in the original version.
Overall this is just a great movie. I'd put this as my favorite movie of 2010 so far. If you have young kids please know that there is some mild language throughout (I think I counted 4 swear words…mostly said by Smith.)
Rating of whether I would see the movie again:
1 = Definitely not!
2 = Probably not.
3 = Maybe.
4 = Probably.
5 = Absolutely!
Would I see the movie again in the theaters? 5
Will I rent it on DVD and watch it at home? 1 (Because I will buy it!)
Would I buy the movie? 5
"The Karate Kid" is rated PG and features some strong violent content and imagery, mostly involving pre-teens and teenagers (bullying, including beatings, and martial-arts action violence, such as kicking and punching), scattered profanity, some mildly suggestive references and slang terms, and derogatory language and slurs. Running time: 140 minutes.
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