The original The Karate Kid (1984) movie stands as one of the iconic movies of the 80s. Having firmly earned its place in my memory, I was quite surprised to hear it would be remade with Will Smith's son Jaden taking the Daniel Larusso role and Jackie Chan in the Mr. Miyagi role. I mean... that's just plain weird...
With an open mind, I went to watch this film and was very pleasantly surprised. Misleading title aside (it's called The Kung Fu Kid in some markets more sensitive to the topic), the film features excellent fight choreography, beautiful landscapes, generally good production values, and adequate to good acting.
Some minor spoilers follow, so beware (although if you've seen the original movie, you already know the story here).
Still here? Ok...
The movie opens with young Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) saying his last goodbyes to his home in Detroit by making the last entry on his bedroom doorframe height chart. The chart also establishes that his father has passed on and that he is moving to China. As expected, he is not too keen on the idea and refuses to learn Mandarin. It seems his mother, Sherry (Taraji P. Henson) got transfered to China because they are apparently outsourcing automotive jobs there.
Once in China, they move into a quaint, if crowded, apartment complex. There's no hot running water and Spongebob is in Mandarin, but there's a nice little park and playground and a pretty Chinese girl whom Dre takes a liking to. The girl, Meiying (Wenwen Han), seems to like him as well. Unfortunately, this silver lining in the dark cloud of culture shock is painfully torn by an encounter with the local bully which ends with Dre lying alone in pain on the basketball court. His misfortune spirals further downward when he finds that they all attend the same school and he becomes a marked man (or boy... whatever).
Desperate to learn how to defend himself, Dre tries (poorly) to learn karate through video lessons. He's excited to find a big kung fu dojo but his hopes for some butt-kicking lessons are dashed when he finds out that the bully Cheng (Zhenwei Wang) and his gang are star pupils there (man, this kid's life sucks).
Despite the hurdles, Dre continues to develop his friendship with Meiying while trying (and sometimes failing) to avoid getting beaten up and/or humiliated. The bullying reaches a climax when after a school trip to The Forbidden City, Dre is creeping around trying to avoid the gang and can't resist throwing a bucket of dirty drainwater on them (why why why...). They give chase through the streets and markets before reaching the apartment complex where he is cornered and severely beaten. But lo! A saviour comes in the form of the building maintenance man Mr. Han. The bullies foolishly take on Jackie Chan and are singlehandedly defeated in classic Jackie Chan style.
After getting his injuries treated by traditional 'fire cupping' and 'flaming massage' techniques, Dre begs Mr. Han to accompany him to the dojo to ask the super-mean Master Li (Rongguang Yu) to get his students to stop bugging him. Han reluctantly agrees but the visit backfires somewhat, resulting in Dre getting entered into the upcoming open kung fu tournament. However, the bullies leave him alone to train with Han which lifts his spirits considerably.
What follows is the obligatory series of training sessions and music montages. This includes a fairly amusing variation on the familiar "Wax on, wax off" technique of using seemingly mundane repetitious actions to teach blocking techniques. There is also the visit to a mystical temple where monks meditate and perform surreal kung fu moves.
The film inevitably culminates in the grand tournament where Dre of course advances to the finals against (surprise, surprise) Cheng. Along the way there is time for a little puppy-love romance and a touching scene between Dre and Han which is very cathartic for Han and cements their relationship as true friends. The ending is inevitable but it is handled well and does not seem forced or artificial.
There's a lot to like about this movie. The acting is above par and sometimes even good. Jaden Smith turns in as good a performance as you could expect of him. I'll admit that I really didn't like his performance in The Day the Earth Stood Still. Here however, his acting skills have progressed beyond a surly look. The pained expressions and tears during the emotional scenes seemed quite genuine. The kung fu work is quite impressive especially considering the short amount of time he has been training. Smith is genuinely talented and someday may follow in his illustrious father's footsteps. Much has been said about nepotism involved in this film and it's undeniably true, but the young Smith holds his own in this film. The audience was certainly taken by his charms (he's quite cute when he's not being an annoying brat). He's far from the best actor, but more than good enough for an 11-year old.
Jackie Chan gives a fairly effective performance in a dramatic role as opposed to his usual comedic roles. His character here is quite humourless as a result of a past tragedy. There may be a future for Chan as a dramatic actor now that he's a little past his prime for the kung fu movie business. He doesn't hold a candle to the late Pat Morita's Mr. Miyagi of course, but on its own, the character suits him to a T.
As for the supporting characters (whom we see little of), Henson provides the most comic relief. Her lines and actions generated quite a few chuckles from the audience. Wang is over-the-top as the generic bully, wearing a perpetual sneer. The same goes for Yu, playing a caricaturish Mean Coach. But I guess those roles are meant to be not complex (this is a kid's film after all). Han gives a sweet portrayal as Dre's young crush.
The film has some nice locations and would make a great commercial to promote tourism in China. Quaint dwellings, picturesque mountainside temples, the Forbidden City, and even The Great Wall of China feature strongly. The fight scenes were well choreographed but bordering on the brutal side especially in the last rounds of the tournament, so it might not be suitable for the very young or people squeamish about kids beating up each other.
Reading other reviews on the web, I see that this movie has gotten a mixed reaction. There's the usual hatred for Jaden Smith and the cries of nepotism (seriously people... get a life). Then there's the die-hard fans of the original movie who can't bear the existance of a remake. I think the new movie stands quite well on its own. It uses the basic storyline and adapts some of the scenes in its own way. It also pays homage to the original in subtle and not-so-subtle ways (watch for the fly catch and an adapted 'crane kick'). However, the box-office has spoken and it says that the film is a success with $56 million in its opening weekend.
The audience was clapping and cheering in the final scenes and that to me says that the film managed to connect with the audience and that's a good thing. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading this long long review. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to track down a copy of the 1984 film...
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