The Karate Kid The first impression we get from anything – a movie, a book, an article, a song, ANYTHING – is from its title. After labeling this review The Karate Kid, no one expects me to write a review on Toy Story 3 (and if you do, I suggest you look into some logic help). The Karate Kid fails its first impression. When I heard about the movie, I wanted to see a kid practicing KARATE, instead we get Kung Fu. “They’re not the same!” Dre (Jaden Smith) yells at his mother (Taraji Henson). Really Dre? Then why does this movie treat them as if they are? I am additionally a large fan of the original Karate Kid, so as I sat in the theater, I had to try my best to wipe my mind of these biases and watch the movie for its content. As I did this, I found that the movie was actually fairly entertaining. Fun choreography, little bits of fun humor, a charming (if not good) performance Jaden Smith, and an at-times fun performance by Jackie Chan really turn this movie into an enjoyable experience, though certain inconsistencies of characters, settings, and several sub-par performances did bother my inner story and film-maker. Spoiler Of course, my suspension of disbelief was blown away from the very beginning when the movie asked me to believe that Smith was playing the part of a twelve year old. He looks much more the part of an eight, (ten tops) year old. This was, in fact, the biggest issue I found with the movie as I watched it. I kept going back to the young age, and how the actors looked like they belonged more on the monkey bars than fighting over a girl. Additionally, what twelve year old, even trained in kung fu, attacks a maintenance man in his 50’s? The sequence was much more believable in the original Karate Kid when the young adults attacked ancient Mr. Miyagi. This issue continued up until the very end of the movie when, during the tournament, fully grown official referees had trouble prying the twelve year olds off each other. Jackie Chan’s performance was surprisingly sub-par, probably because he is more suited to fun whacky roles such as The Drunken Immortal than the brooding shut-in role of Mr. Han. As he spends half the movie in this misanthropic state, we only see moments of his superior acting skills, though when they appear they are good. After Dre helps Mr. Han overcome the death of his wife and son and move on, he is seen with a smile on his face and much more emotion, something which suits Chan well. Unfortunately we see only one fight sequence from Chan, in which he faces off against a gang of twelve year olds. I suppose I can understand why we didn’t see any more fights though seeing as he walks away winded from the fight. Imagine what would happen if he fought someone his own age. Jaden Smith’s performance was also sub-par as he fumbled his way through pick-up lines and trying to give a care about the movie. The best performance he gives is writhing on the ground in pain. Thankfully his character was charming in that little way that all these little tikes are. He sports some fun dance skills and makes plenty of fun, naïve comments which let you love the character if not the actor. His mother, Taraji Henson, on the other hand gives a great performance, really bringing the quality of the movie noticeably up. The tournament is hosted at a huge venue, which I found to be unrealistic. I'm not familiar with the Chinese Culture, but that does not seem like the standard twelve year old open tournament. I would have expected a gymnasium more than the stadium they're put in. Over-all a fun experience if not good. solid 7/10 :star::star::star::star::star::star::star:
I thought it was quite an entertaining film, agree the point about the title though, although if you check IMDB one of the alternative titles is 'The Kung Fu kid', I suppose they're just cashing in on the 'remake' idea as the story is based (if loosely) on the idea of the original film. Some of the acting was slightly wooden, but no more than i'd expected. The main disappointment for me was the lack of 'bloopers' that you normally see at the end of a Jackie Chan film!
My main issue is how he only needs one form of exercise to become a kung fu master. At least Miyagi put Larusso through balance tests and stuff as well, and the crane kick made a hell of a lot more sense than that thing Dre whips out of somewhere. I enjoyed it. Thought Jaden acted well, though so far I'm the only person in the world to think so, I actually found his mother very annoying and one sided, she didn't have a lot to say besides demanding he pick up his damn jacket. Jackie's fight is, unsurprisingly, the highlight of the movie for me, I always like seeing tai chi-esque stuff, but I'd take miyagi's fight any day
No bloopers? Didn't he do his own stunts this time? (The three-dollar theater went out of business. I'll get this one on Netflix in a few months.)
i thought it was pretty good, i like kung fu more than karate, but i still like the original karte kid better. you cant beat mr myagi!
I haven't seen it yet. I did like the original Karate Kid and am worried that the remake won't be as good. I agree with you iammartialarts, Mr Miyagi was great. So was the message of the original film ie it had a strong ethical message. I am hoping that the Martial Arts segments in the new film are good. What did others think of the technical side of that?
With out Daniel son and Mr. Myagi and Cobra Kai, you do not have Karate Kid. The Kung Fu versus Karate is irrelevant. It is the same exact story as the Karate Kid.
I was quite disappointed, the organization I belong to spent craploads of money telling us how this would be the second coming of Bruce Lee and how we'd double our students because of the interest....you could hear the crickets chirping there were so few kids inspired to start training. Boring movie, bad story line....lost a lot of money on advertising.....
I heard somewhere that they are actually releasing it as the Kung Fu Kid everywhere but the US. I think they are hoping to cash in on Miyagi nostalgia. I haven't seen it yet. I plan to take my kids to it. Depending on how long it runs, we may be renting it though.
Karate Kid opens on previews this weekend, and is on full release this Wednesday. The cinema I work at has teamed up with a local club, who are doing a demo at our site. They're offering the chance to win a years' free martial arts training to those who see the Karate Kid at our cinema. I'm going in to watch it in about an hour and a half. Should be good.
ODEON Cinema, chatham, kent They're there today, tomorrow, Wednesday and next weekend. Competition runs until 28th of July With Shi Kon martial arts, led by Steve Rowe, who used to be a member here.
2hr movie and it took 1 hr to get to any training at all. Way too much melodrama to get to that point. Bored the hell out of me. I like Chan alot, but this movie did squat for me. I'd rather see a Karate Kid movie with Larusso coming back as a coach or something like that. Someone contact Ralph Macchio
I spent seven weeks teaching martial arts at a summer camp for teenagers in Arizona. I chaperoned a bunch of 'em to go see this movie at the local theatre, and while the kids enjoyed it, I was bored to tears. Will Smith is a douche for doing this. Hopefully someone will have the sense to shoot him before they do the sequel. :bang:
Karate Kid 2010 I love Jackie Chan so i checked this one out when it came out. My major complaint is the title is a total misnomer. He is studying Kung Fu not Karate. It should have been titled the Kung Fu Kid. I'm not the only one with this critisism. But i guess movie studios don't care what we think.
It was an ok movie. i hoped though that they wouldn't have totally ripped off the original. still a good pass time though. =P