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The Karate Kid
Movie Review
Juuly 11, 2010
Directed by Harald Zwart
Starring Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson, Wenwen Han,
Rongguang Yu, and Zhenwei Wang.
Backstory
When I first heard that they were doing a Karate Kid remake, I reacted
that such a thing venture dangerously into "raping my childhood"
territory. I mean, it's fully ingrained in the pop culture
history of any child of the 1980s. When I heard that Will
Smith was on board as a producer, so he could make it a star-making
film for his son, I had more doubts. When I heard that the
movie was taking place in China but still called "The Karate Kid," I
was among those who pointed out that Kung Fu is primary martial art of
China, and Karate is Japanese. But, the film still came
together, and, like all remakes of things from my childhood, I was
mildly curious.
Plot
12 year-old Dre Parker is a kid out of his element. His mom
just got transfered, and he's been forced to move from his home in
Detroit all the way across the world to Beijing. As is the
case with all new kids in a new setting, he quickly becomes the object
of the neighborhood bullies, who are all well-versed in kung fu and
take great pleasure in practicing their skills on young Dre.
But then, after one particularly brutal beating, Dre is saved
by Mr. Han, the maintenance man at his apartment building.
Mr. Han reveals himself to be a kung fu master, and
Dre pleads with Mr. Han to teach him kung fu so he can meet the bullies
on equal footing. Mr. Han reluctantly agress, and as the Dre
learns kung fu, he helps Mr. Han battle his own personal demons.
Will Dre finally develop the skills to beat the bullies at
the big kung fu tournament? And why does Mr. Han keep a car
in his living room?
What I Liked
This film looks absolutly beautiful. Filmed mostly on
location in China, there's lots of gorgeous Chinese scenery on display.
Another thing I liked over the original is that the
characters of the mother and the girlfriend have more to do.
In the original, the mother kind of disappeared once Mr.
Miyagi showed up, but in the new one, the mom takes an active interest
in her son's new hobby and goes out of her way to befriend Mr. Han.
The girlfriend also has her own big competition that she's
training for, and Dre helps her out. And, as is the case with
all things like this, I did pick up on all the subtle references to the
original, and they made me smile.
What I
Didn't Like
With the age of the main character being reduced from around 17 to 12,
the fights and the bullying just come across as way more brutal than in
the original. And, having grown up with the original, the
plot doesn't deviate too far from the original, and thus offers very
little new.
Final
Assessment
It offers just enough new stuff to make it fun and enjoyable on its own
merits. It still warm and fuzzy enough to make you feel warm
and fuzzy.
3 Nibs
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