It might not seem like I have the highest regard for The Karate Kid, but I just can't help comparing it to the original while watching the movie, I was stunned at how effective it is (especially considering where director Harald Zwart is coming from, namely The Pink Panther 2). Li (as Kreese was in the original) is the real villain here, but he's so arbitrarily over-the-top evil he comes across a joke you wouldn't believe someone like this could actually become a martial arts instructor, but then again, a similar situation is described in Jessica Yu's documentary Protagonist. Han agrees to train Dre, and have him fight in an upcoming tournament. Han visits the bullies' instructor to make peace, but instead finds John Kreese reincarnated as Master Li (Rongguang Yu), who demands a fight before they can leave – either with him or the boy. It's a nice fight scene, surprisingly well-edited, but more than a bit unusual to see the middle-aged Chan disposing of 12-year-olds. Han steps in to save Dre from his attackers, which he does by redirecting their punches toward each other. The kids here are of the preteen variety, which adds an interesting (if uncomfortable) spin to the violent fight scenes (Ralph Macchio was 22 when the original was released, twice Smith's age here). He makes a quick American friend upon his arrival (who is never seen again), chats up a pretty local girl (Wenwen Han) at the playground, and then gets the shit kicked out of him by the neighborhood bullies, led by Cheng (Zhenwei Wang in the William Zabka role), who don't take kindly to his, uh, existence. He doesn't speak a word of Chinese, but it's OK, nearly everyone he encounters speaks perfect English.
Jaden Smith (son of Will and Jada Pinkett) stars as Dre Parker, a young grade-schooler who is transplanted from Detroit to Beijing along with his mother (Taraji P. I'm sure Kung Fu (as in Panda) means more than Karate Kid to the Justin Bieber crowd, anyway. It's a cash-grab, brand-recognition, our-audience-won't-even-know thing, but the film would've survived better – without such direct comparison to the original – under its working title, The Kung Fu Kid. Han (Chan) training his young protégé in the art of (of course) kung fu. This version takes place in China, with Mr. Take it off.” I don't think that's gonna catch on. No “sweep the leg!” No “wax on, wax off,” though they do try something similar with a jacket. There's nothing like Joe Esposito's You're the Best on the soundtrack (its replacement? Justin Bieber's Never Say Never). 2010's Karate Kid just doesn't offer up enough personality, it doesn't strike any resonant pop culture chords. It's not that the material isn't fresh anymore it wasn't fresh in '84, or even in '76, when Avildsen made the similarly-plotted Rocky. But – stop me if you've heard this one before – it doesn't live up to the original.Īs watchable and (at times) likable and even touching as this movie is, it ultimately comes across as bland and disposable entertainment. Avildsen's iconic 1984 film, is competently made and executed, with charismatic lead performances by Jackie Chan and (especially) Jaden Smith. 2010's The Karate Kid, a remake of John G.
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