The Karate Kid

2010-06-11
By Sergio Mims

CAST: Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson
WRITTEN BY: Christopher Murphey (& Steven Conrad uncredited)
DIRECTED BY: Harald Zwart
*** THREE STARS

Not all remakes are pale, needless, inferior imitations of far superior films. Once in a while, if the planets align just right during the equinox, a remake can come along that works. One that stays true to the concept of the original film, yet is clever enough to put its own unique spin on the plot. And that’s what happens with The Karate Kid starring Jaden Smith (the offspring of Will and Jada) and Jackie Chan - a winning and totally charming remake of the beloved 1984 original.

Granted, the original vastly overrated 1984 film is a favorite of a certain generation who are seeing through a hazy cloud of nostalgia making it better in their eyes than it actually is. And no doubt they might be the ones dissatisfied with this new remake. But one of the smart things this new version does is to skew the film to a younger audience instead of teenagers who were the main focus of the original film. And as a movie aimed at kids and their families this new version is absolutely terrific. Admittedly it’s very corny at times with one too many teeth-grating, inspirational speeches, especially the one Jaden gives to Chan at the big climax, but it works beautifully. And it is refreshing to see a film aimed at younger audiences that relies on character and story instead of bombastic, heavy-laden, CGI special effects.

First of all there needs to be a correction. The title is all wrong for the film. The original title for the picture was, accurately, The Kung Fu Ki,  since it does take place in China and deals with Chinese martial arts. However sometime during production it was changed to The Karate Kid, mainly  to let audiences know that it’s a remake of the original film though that film dealt with karate which is a Japanese form of martial arts.  And one can suppose that the studio thought that people can’t tell or know the difference between karate and kung fu, but culturally it’s all out of whack.

In the film a widowed single mother in Detroit (Henson) with an eleven- year old son Dre (Smith) gets a job and moves to Beijing. However her son is still psychologically reeling from the death of his father and now has to experience culture shock,especially from Chinese people fascinated with his hair. Almost immediately he takes a fancy to a young Chinese girl training to be accepted into prestigious music academy and incurs the wrath of a bunch of bullies trained by a mean, sadistic, martial arts master. But into Dre’s life comes Mr. Han (Chan) a maintenance man tormented by tragic inner demons who becomes Dre’s father figure and teaches him  self-respect, discipline and kung fu.  And as with the original, It all leads up to the big kung fu tournament where Dre faces his self doubts and the bullies for victory.

As Dre’s mentor and father figure Jackie Chan is perfect casting for the role of the mentor Mr. Han. He’s in his mid-50’s now and after countless broken bones and nearly killing himself dozens of times from all the amazing martial arts films he’s made, he looks it, and gives a rather grim and dour performance. He plays a man with the weight of guilt and tragedy on his shoulders. Some of the character development however is contrived. For example he keeps a car in his living room that he repairs, then tears apart, which is a clumsy plot device to lead up to a big confessional which doesn’t exactly work. Nevertheless, it is quite a compelling performance by Chan.

Henson, unfortunately, is totally wasted, almost relegated to the background. She’s basically limited to two expressions, either scolding Dre or looking concerned. And rather strangely, even though we know she’s moved to Beijing for a new job, we never once see her at work, nor is it even mentioned what her job is. But on the good side she got an all expenses paid vacation to China for several months.

The big question of course is how’s Jaden,  and to the surprise of some, the kid pulls it off quite well. Even more surprising since we can assume that he didn’t have to audition for the role. He does have his father’s tendency of trying too hard to be likable, and he’s not the most experienced actor. One can see him at times “working” for an effect, rather than naturally creating it. But the kid’s a real charmer and the fact that he’s a cute kid thanks to his movie star parents’ good genes, doesn’t hurt at all.

But importantly Jaden fashion Dre as an intelligent, curious, feisty boy with a strong, independent streak. But he’s also bratty, annoying, scared, and insecure with a lot of self doubt. In other words he’s a real kid, not some perfect one dimensional non-entity.

Clocking in at an epic length, 135 minutes, the film could have used some trimming. There’s too much local color and travelogue footage, yet it moves well with no slow spots, and is never boring for a minute. And the fight scenes are pretty rough. Jaden does get his ass kicked a lot, and it looks painful, or rather he very convincingly makes it look like it was.

If you’re one of those who thinks the original is some great childhood memory then you’re bound to dislike this film.  But leave aside your qualms and you’ll find a film that without question works and works well.