Movie Review: The Karate Kid (PG)

Jenness Mitchell • Published 28 Jul 2010 08:30 0 Comments

As a fan of the 1984 movie of the same name, I was a bit dumbfounded as to why a remake of The Karate Kid was commissioned on such a family classic.

You would think that now, in 2010, there would be plenty of screenwriters with one original idea to pitch. Clearly not.

Twelve-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) moves from Detroit to Beijing with his mother Sherry (Taraji P. Henson) to which he finds himself on the receiving end of several beatings from school bully Cheng (ZhenWei Wang) and his friends after chatting up music protégé Mei Ying (Wen Wen Han).

After being saved by maintenance man Mr Han (Jackie Chan) during an attack, Dre ends up having to enrol within a kung fu tournament to face each of his bullies head on so the beatings will stop.

With Han's teachings and advice, Dre eventually finds comfort and love in a land far off.

The story is similar to that of the original with only a few minor changes. China now stands in for America, coat on/coat off replaces wax on/wax off, and kung fu is the name of the game instead of karate.

There are several nods to the original including the Beverly Hills apartments, a training scene involving a shower curtain and a semi-final match in which creepy bad guy Master Li (Yu Rongguang) wants Dre broken not beaten.

The script will indeed engage a young and older audience. The first kiss between Dre and Mei was pretty cute along with the subsequent dance-off which will no doubt entertain the tweens within the audience, whereas the adults will appreciate the emotional scenes between Dre and Han - with special mention to the poignant moment both characters share in Han's car.

Set in China, there are some stunning views of the Forbidden City, the Olympic Village and the Great Wall.

I, however, was blown away with the sight of the Wudang Mountains - so beautiful, I think I may have found my next travel destination.

Produced by Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, The Karate Kid is a star vehicle for their son Jaden.

He does them proud as the lead Dre and undoubtedly has a very bright future in front of him, but I must admit I missed the rouge Italian-American charm of Ralph Macchio's Daniel LaRusso.

Jackie Chan makes for a more anguished version of Pat Morita's Mr Miyagi and Taraji P. Henson plays for laughs as the Juicy Couture-wearing type of an overbearing yet lovable mother.

The question all fans are asking, however, revolves around the infamous crane kick from the original. I can confirm it is still in there, but with a 2010 twist.

As good as the original but no better, The Karate Kid falls into the category of being one of many solid remakes hitting the cinema screen this year.

New and old fans should enjoy it alike.

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