The Karate Kid - Review

Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith team up to take on an evil kung Fu gym... sounds like the beginning of a very strange buddy martial arts flick. The Karate Kid would probably have been a better movie if it had been just that. It would have made a lot more sense, especially with the ways movies are made now, to have Jackie Chan, an old school master, team up with Jaden Smith, a reluctant new student, and take on a gym full of Chinese kung fu masters. Instead, Jackie Chan's Mr. Han is an oldish maintenance man, with no legitimate kung fu training, except for what his father taught him, and Jaden Smith's Dre Parker is an American kid transplanted to China after his mom is inexplicably transferred (she works in a car factory, which makes little to no sense).

Dre needs to learn how to defend himself after falling in like with Meiying (played adorably by Wenwen Han). The problem with Meiying, is that she has a "family friend" by the name of Cheng (Zhenwei Wang), who finds it hilarious to knock Dre to the ground and pummel him for interrupting Meiyings violin practice. After continued pummelings, Dre decides that he wants to learn kung fu, and after watching Mr. Han defend him during a bout of six dudes to one.

Mr. Han eventually gives in to Dre (after accidently having him challenge Chan in a kung fu tournament) and starts teaching him kung fu, mainly by having him take off and put on his jacket, which he tends to drop on the floor. This goes on for an indeterminable amount of time, until Dre begs to be taught some actual moves that will help him fight in the tournament.

The problem with the movie is that while the parts that are good are great, the majority of the film tends to run a bit long and have you waiting for the next scene where Jaden is practicing or actually fighting. The fight sequences are pretty good and fairly visceral, you can almost feel the kids getting slammed on the ground, but the rest of the movie drags, and the Meiying story line is good, but goes on too long and goes into too much detail, detracting from the kung fu master/kung fu student story, which should be at the center of the film.

I'd have to give this a 3 out of 5, its a solid movie, and a decent re-imagining of the original story. Unfortunately the side plots took away from the overall experience. I can still easily recommend this movie, if for nothing more than for the Jaden Smith's performance. He does an impeccable job and steals practically ever scene he is in. Will and Jada Pinkett Smith definitely have to be proud of their son after this performance, and it is a great one, especially for his first more or less starring role. At the very least, The Karate Kid isn't as bad as some of the crap that has been coming out in this lackluster blockbuster summer. Hopefully Toy Story 3 can bring this summer movie season around.