Customer Reviews

The Karate Kid

5 star:		(101)
4 star:		(64)
3 star:		(27)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

"The Karate Kid" is very much a worthy counterpart to the 1984 film on which it's based, not only in terms of story, but also in terms of quality; the excitement, humor, warmth, and themes of friendship, maturity, and overcoming adversity have been left intact, and better still, there's no sense that any of it has been cheapened or simplified to the sake of appealing to a mass audience. The only exception, and I'm really just nitpicking here, is a glorious but contrived aerial shot of martial arts training directly on the Great Wall of China, the helicopter camera zooming around Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith as they pose dramatically. If there was ever an image that belonged in a Chinese tourism commercial, this would be it.

A more substantial criticism is that, because this is such a faithful remake, there isn't much it can do to surprise us. Anyone familiar with the 1984 film will know exactly how this new version will play out, from the main character's awkward arrival at the start to the climactic tournament at the end. There is a bit of an inconsistency; because it takes place in China, the featured martial art is kung fu, not karate, so the title is technically inaccurate. There's also the convenience of all the important characters being able to speak English, if not fluently, then just enough to get their point across. But it's all done so well that we may find ourselves suppressing the desire to look for flaws and make comparisons. What would be the point? Remake or not, this movie stands entirely on its own as a great entertainment, not just as a sports drama and a spectacle but also as a coming-of-age story, which is just as charming and insightful as it was twenty-six years ago.

Smith plays twelve-year-old Dre Parker, who's forced to move from Detroit to Beijing with his mother (Taraji P. Henson). He doesn't much care for it, although he does immediately develop a crush on a good-natured girl named Mei Ying (Han Wenwen), a violin prodigy. Unfortunately, this introduces him to the sadistic school bully, Cheng (Wang Zhenwei), who quickly and brutally takes him down in full view of the other kids. How did he become so aggressive? A visit to a local kung fu class explains everything: Cheng's teacher, Master Li (Rongguang Yu), has taught him to be merciless when fighting his enemies. Mercy, he says, is for the weak. Dre, both small-statured and a foreigner, is considered a weakling. The idea that the underdog is separated by culture as well as by status is something the original film never had the chance to explore. It's a welcome addition.

So is Jackie Chan, who takes the reins from the late Pat Morita and transforms Mr. Miyagi into Mr. Han, a reclusive janitor who agrees to train Dre for an upcoming kung fu tournament. After his disastrous starring role in "The Spy Next Door," I had my doubts that Chan would be able to pull this off. I was happily proven wrong; this is his most mature and compelling performance to date, having been given the opportunity to genuinely act and not merely be a goofy action star. We see range. We see depth. We can conceivably feel something for his character. And for once, the kung fu moves he built his reputation on are actually in service of the story. He's not a stuntman showing off - he's a wise elder trying to make a point, and just like with Pat Morita's character, it involves a menial task that must be done repeatedly, almost to the point of a compulsion.

Some may object to the puppy love between Dre and Mei Ying, paling in comparison to the original film's teenage love between Ralph Macchio and Elisabeth Shue. While I agree that there's no such thing as romance before puberty, I am aware that those tween years see the emergence of hormones, and I can certainly believe that Dre and Mei Ying would have their first kiss by the light of a rear-screen projector. There's no sense believing that they're falling in love, because they're not. If anything, they form a sweet and innocent friendship, one made stronger by the fact that both are being tested by their own life circumstances. And much like the divide between Dre and Cheng, both are threatened by cultural differences, Mei Ying's parents fearful that a musically uninspired American boy will be a bad influence on her. Like all good boys, he just wants make a fine first impression.

A stretch in the middle of the film reveals views of mist-shrouded mountains and tours of ancient temples, where kung fu students practice rigorously. This is perhaps a bit conventional, but it's also undeniably breathtaking. I'm addressing that last observation to those who can't bring themselves to see this movie for its story or its characters - maybe the visuals will win them over. Still, don't be so quick to dismiss everything else it has to offer. Yes, "The Karate Kid" is yet another Hollywood remake, but that doesn't change the fact that it tells an engaging story with interesting characters and features good performances. I greatly enjoyed this movie, and if you go into it with an open mind, I think you will too.

When I read that there was going to be a remake of the 1984 film The Karate Kid, I smiled in fond recollection of the original (which was a great family favorite in our house) and was interested in seeing the new version because it was being shot in China - a country (and a culture) about which I feel I have a LOT to learn. I was looking forward to seeing it.

The results? A mixed bag. Since I generally prefer to judge a remake on its own merits and try to avoid making too many comparisons to the original, I was somewhat surprised that, after seeing Karate Kid 2010, ALL I was doing was making comparisons in my head - comparisons in which the new version kept coming up short. Annoyed with myself, I decided to watch the 1984 version again to make certain it wasn't just nostalgia that was coloring my opinion. So I re-watched. It wasn't just nostalgia - the original IS better.

The Karate Kid 1984 wasn't the best written or best acted film ever - or even of 1984. But it was very popular. Kids liked it. Their parents liked it. People saw it multiple times. They quoted from it ("wax on, wax off"). Some, including my own kids, still do. :-) Enrollment at karate schools across the country rose dramatically. What really came home to me during my back-to-back viewing of the two films is that the new version simply lacks much of the heart and most of the humor that formed the basis for that initial popularity. And both of those - the heart and the humor - came, IMO, from the wonderful relationship between Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita). While the plot of the remake closely follows the original, the new film never comes close to capturing the essence of that relationship and so failed to engage me in the same manner the original did.

But while I didn't find the heart and humor in The Karate Kid 2010 that would have given me that "absolutely love it" feeling, the film has its own charms and I was able to enjoy it on its own merits, particularly in a couple of areas where it clearly outclasses the original, such as:

* The athleticism of its stars (Jaden Smith as Dre Parker, Jackie Chan as Mr. Han & Zhenwie Wang as the bully, Cheng). Jaden Smith, even at age 11, has more muscle definition than Ralph Macchio had at twice his age (or possibly ever) and is physically much more convincing as a student who could master difficult martial arts moves in a short space of time. Chan and Wang (Wang particularly) are also more convincing athletically than their counterparts.
* The vastly superior fight scenes. Each and every fight scene is better "choreographed" and much more interesting to watch. (They are also more violent - parents might want to see the film before taking children under the age of 10 or so.)
* Dre's friendship with the violin prodigy Meiying (Wenwen Han). Even as a dedicated fan of Elisabeth Shue (the love interest in the original film), I found the Dre/Meiying relationship more appealing. I probably would have enjoyed their storyline more if the writers had simply left it platonic and concentrated on the cultural differences between them to create some tension, but their relationship made possible one of my favorite moments in the film: the scene where Dre goes to Meiying's home and addresses a formal apology to her father in Chinese. I also loved the violin piece she played.
* The gorgeous scenery. Views of China including the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and a mountaintop temple were simply stunning. (Those interested in seeing more of China might want to check out Wild China: Natural Wonders of the World's Most Enigmatic Land).
* And, lastly, the ancient healing method? MUCH cooler in the new film.

Both films have a collection of underlying messages that they effectively deliver - that violence is not the answer, that there is honor is being a peacemaker, that bullies often learn their ways from others and, most meaningful to me personally, that children (or anyone for that matter) should never have to live in fear. I will say this: if a remake, even if it doesn't quite live up to the original, renews these messages and makes them more accessible to another generation, I'm in.

I give this new version of The Karate Kid 3.5 stars - for me it hovers somewhere between "it's ok" and "I liked it". I'm rounding down because, with some serious editing (dang, it was too long - just like this review!), and with a little more care to inject more heart into it, I would have been happy to give it a firm 4 stars. While I believe the original is better, I think this one is worth a look and that its messages are ones that every generation deserves to hear.

Recommended.

This movie was a pleasant surprise. I'm always a bit wary of remakes, but when I saw that Jackie Chan w/b in it, I took the chance. I was very impressed with Jaden Smith & all the hard work he put into this movie, with the help of Jackie Chan. Very impressive. Nice to see Chan finally get the chance to show that he's about more than comedy action.

Karate Kid was a good movie overall, but left me still wondering why it was remade when it was over. The movie mostly matches the original in basic story even if the new version is in China.

On the good side, the technology of today makes some of the scenes more realistic, especially the fights, but it still felt like something was missing in this movie when compared to the old one, as if they thought using today's technology would somehow make a better movie which seems to be a normal problem with modern remakes.

Jaden Smith does a decent job with the role, but it felt like the character was a little too young. Maybe that's because I grew up watching Daniel Larusso who was supposed to be about 17 or 18 in the original. The love story is better in the new movie and was mostly a afterthought in the original, as was Jaden's relationship with his mother compared to Daniel's. The original movie focused mostly on the main plot, while the new movie attempted to branch off a bit to get a little more involved with other characters.

Jackie Chan does a pretty good job with the part, but, again, it just cant compete with Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi. The boy who plays the antagonist in this movie does a good job of making you hate him, similar to the original.

The only part of the movie that seemed to defy reality a bit was the final fight scene. When Daniel Larusso did the crane technique in the original movie it was believable, but when Jaden Smith does the complete flip to kick the other kid down I was thinking no way. It just wasn't believable to me.

This movie is worth seeing, but fans of the original will still walk away with a slightly sour taste afterwards.

I've always been a fan of the original Karate Kid series, even the Next Karate Kid despite folks being critical of it. In this remake, the settings have changed and all cultural and marshal art techniques were adjusted appropriate from Japanese to Chinese, and Karate to Kung Fu. Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith both were surprising good acting in their respective roles, which are new to both of them. Generally the blueprint is the same, especially with the way the tournament progressed.

The blue ray has slightly clearer picture than DVD version on 1080p. I love the featurettes, which introduce three key areas of China involved in the film: Beijing, the Great Wall, and the Wu Dang mountains (founding place of Kung Fu). The Chinese lessons are cute for viewers just wanna have fun with few phrases.

The blu-ray, DVD, and the featurettes together are definitely worth the price.

Having grown up watching the original Karate Kid in the 80's, I was anticipating something a little deeper than this movie. The original Karate Kid was simple and effective. This new Karate Kid had fighting that was like something out of the Matrix and was totally not on par with the way kids their age would be able to fight. I watched kids leap 20 feet through the air, jump over buildings, take hits that would leave an adult keeled over in pain yet they brushed them off and carried on for 5 minute fight scenes. Simply too overdone in my opinion. Although the new Karate Kid followed much of the storyline of the original, Daniel's character, now played by "Dre Parker" was a whining child who struck me as annoying through the whole film. The ending scene was so ridiculously fake it was just plain disgusting. In the original, with one leg hurt, Daniel used the Crane Technique which he kicked his opponent with one leg in use. In the new version he does a one legged backflip and kicks his opponent in the face on his way down landing on his good leg. This whole movie just left a bad taste in my mouth and was another example of why producers should leave the classics alone. Want to buy The Karate Kid for your child? Buy the original!

Just to clarify I watched this film on cable it was uncut so I was able to see the film in its original state, now let me just say I loved the original karate kid films and I thought this revamp was going to be awful like most remakes tend to be, but I was wrong this remake was very entertaining

Why did I think this film version was good? well there was more karate in this version then in the original films. the martial arts in this redo was fast and fun to watch it just looked much better, I mean much more fancy, no cheesy easy one legged kick win, I mean sure there was the one legged kick win in the this film, but it looked cooler also I liked that the film was set in china and I've always enjoyed Jackie Chen's work, and Jaden smith was actually a good little actor, I also liked the fact that they showed more of the boys relationship with his mother because in the original films they hardly ever showed his mother it almost seemed like his mother did not exist I know that the story is about the boys journey, but it adds a touch of realism to show the young character interacting with his mother, and the training scenes was fun to watch because they were humerus and cool looking I would not mind seeing a sequel to this remake if they do one.

This movie was a very pleasant surprise. I thought I was going to hate it because I don't generally favor remakes. I mean, come on, it's just too easy. Just how creative do you have to be to remake a movie? All you have to do is follow a basic template, tweak it a bit and you got a remake.
Anyway, things I didn't like right away. The movie makers had a political agenda, either because it's their own agenda or because China told them they had to film it that way in order to be allowed to film in China, you know state controlled media? What comes out has to make them look good. Beijing was shown as beautiful and clean, everyone in the street and park were smiling and blissful. There was no smog. The place our young hero arrives in is a Utopian home away from home and so painfully diverse in culture you have to wonder if the family had actually wandered into a Progressive day dream. When Dre shows up for his first day at school the first thing I pointed out to my kid was that in China there is no way you would see so many white kids. My child, either wise for his age or actually paying attention when I talk to him about movies, said, "Well, it's a movie Mom, so it's not the way things really are right?"
I had to agree and be satisfied that I was doing my job well enough and that my kid isn't being completely brainwashed by Hollywood. But I had to point out last of all that the red flags and red stars that were so glaringly in your face were symbols of China and communism. I thought it was a good opportunity to explain and reinforce the differences between our form of government and China's. The movie gave a few examples that I could use to make my point such as, police officers standing on sidewalks.
All that aside, this movie is fantastic!!!
Jaden Smith looks just like his daddy! We own every movie Will Smith ever made and have probably seen several of them dozens of times. We love Will Smith and I saw Jaden make many of the same charming facial expressions and line deliveries as Will does in his movies, it was like watching a mini Will. The kid is just adorable and incredibly talented for a child actor. He was not only comfortable in front of the camera but it was like he knew how to work it too. Wow, is all I can say. The world will be looking at Jaden with extremely high expectations.
My kid went into a Martial Arts class about a year ago for the same reason Dre wanted to complete his tournament, so he didn't have to be afraid anymore. My kid saw a lot of himself in this movie. He asked me to buy it for him for xmas so it has his approval. At the end of the film I wanted to stand up and applaud but honestly I was exhausted! My kid and I had been bouncing around on the couch cheering and booing as if we were at the tournament. The final victorious moment saw us with our fists in the air above our heads screaming "Yah!" and "Woohoo!" (One of the biggest reasons we like to watch our movies at home instead of theaters. So we don't disturb others with our noise. The second biggest reason, to talk about the junk thrown into movies that shouldn't be there.)

I've seen the originals..but this def scored up there with the rest. I saw it grudgingly @ the cinema..but fell in love w/ the main characters, even the bully---that kid CAN ACT. Anyways, this movie not only got a standing ovation from the ENTIRE theatre, but every scene had a clapping moment. The acting was superb and I think Will Smith and Jada did a great job with this production...so what if its their own kid?? HE CAN ACT! Get over it people... this movie is a winner in my book. The story had a touching side, with Dre and (jackie chans) character with how their frienship developed and grew into a male role model figure that Dre didn't have. Overall this movie was GREAT.

Having not seen the original Karate Kid for many years, the content, story and overall feel of the original is simply lost in the annals of time as a result of my terrible memory. So with that, I'll say that my review will be written as if the original Karate Kid movie had never been made and this was an entirely original piece. For me to try and make a comparison would create a review based on false ideas and comparisons, which is not what I want my reviews to be.

The film came as a surprise as Jackie Chan took on a role which I am totally unfamiliar with him playing, and that is the serious role of a man who is deeply traumatised by his past, and looking for something to make his life better. Jaden Smith, son of the fantastic Will Smith, is a young actor I wasn't entirely impressed by with his role in the remake of "The Day The Earth Stood Still", but also surprised me in his role as Dre Parker.

The film focuses around 12 year old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) and his Mom who move to China to start life anew. Struggling to settle in, Dre encounters maintenance man, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan, and also an entirely unintentional rhyme) who saves Dre from a beating by a gang of Kung Fu bullies. There's nothing more dangerous than a Kung Fu bully I'll have you know. After saving Dre, Mr. Han agrees to help train Dre in the art of Kung Fu to prepare him for a tournament which will get rid of the bullies once and for all.

The false advertisement of calling it "The Karate Kid" aside, this is actually a really good film. They acknowledge that it is not Karate but Kung Fu that Dre is learning, but whatever the martial art, it is still done really well. The setting of China couldn't have been more perfect for a number of different reasons. The fish-out-of-water plot, the cultural and scenic perspective the film is told from works perfectly and allows the plot and its characters to truly flourish.

Jaden Smith, from a family of acting royalty couldn't have been more perfect for the role. He's clearly a kid who feels comfortable in front of a camera and has a bright future ahead of him; some of the beatings he received from the bullies in the film were a bit too harsh to be comfortable viewing considering he's a 12 year old, but he's a very good actor all the same. Chan performed well as the quiet, tormented and mysterious Mr. Han and this is without a doubt a great stepping stone to a more serious career for Jackie Chan.

Overall, the film was great. It dragged at times and I didn't really feel the chemistry between Smith & Chan, although they performed well individually. The Chinese setting presented some breathtaking shots and managed to portray Dre's awkwardness starting a fresh life really well. The supporting cast, including Dre's love interest, were a simple tag on to the main plot and help you become more emotionally invested in the young life of Dre Parker.