Movie Review: The Karate Kid (2010)

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Karate Kid: An appealing reboot of the classic

Rating: 3 out of 5*

Starring: Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith and Taraji P Henson

Director – Harald Zwart

June 12, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): Remake of the iconic 1984 original which paired young Ralph Macchio with Pat Morita, The Karate Kid has a concept that is the same but the locale has moved from California to the Far East.

After his dad dies, 12 year-old Dre Parker’s (Jaden Smith) widowed mom (Taraji P. Henson) makes a career move from Detroit to Beijing, so Dre suddenly finds himself in China, where the language, customs and chopsticks are unfamiliar. While he makes one friend, violin-playing Mei Ying, he also makes an enemy, Cheng, the class bully. During their first scuffle, Dre tries to use a little karate but, in this land of kung fu fighting, sadistic Cheng and his Flying Dragon buddies beat him up and continue to terrorize him after school with alarming regularity until a maintenance man, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), comes to his rescue. A wushu master, Mr. Han is disgusted with the aggressiveness taught at a local academy. So he patiently trains Dre in the ancient art, preparing him to compete against Cheng in a sanctioned tournament.

Building on Robert Mark Kamen’s familiar story, screenwriter Christopher Murphey and director Harald Zwart (Agent Cody Banks) expand the lonely, fatherless son/childless mentor theme, evoking familiar training moments as the repetitive car-waxing sequence becomes “jacket on, jacket off.” To satisfy the 1984 version’s fans, this one contains a homage to the original film, including a variation of the famous fly catching scene in which Chan’s character ends up swatting it instead of using chopsticks. While Roger Pratt’s cinematography is stunning, the running time of almost two and a half hours appears, far too long.

Jackie Chan, in what probably is his best role, in an American production, delivers a subdued performance with surprising grace. Jaden Smith’s (last seen in Pursuit of Happyness) athletic prowess is convincing, augmented by his inherent charm and inherited acting ability. (His star parents are actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith). Taraji P Henson offers rock-solid support.

The Karate Kid is an appealing reboot of the 1984 classic and deserves a watch by the fans of the original as well as by those who haven’t seen the original.

-Sampurn Wire