Karate Kid + Video Review

2010 - 3.5/5

VIDEO REVIEW: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpmlpMqUq7g

***SPOILER ALERT***
After so many years, this movie manages to stays true to the original of 1984. There are some parts that pay homage to the original, for example, the "jacket on, jacket off" being the new "wax on, wax off." I liked how the director acknowledged that the martial art Dre was learning was Kung Fu and not Karate; it was mentioned a few times in the movie and it was added into the dialogue (twice) in a subtle way. Obviously, this storyline isn't anything new by any means, but it is a modernized version of the original Karate Kid and it's worth the watch.

Plot: B+
12 year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) moves from the US to China with his mom Sherry (Taraji Henson) because she had to relocate for her job at a car manufacture. It is a completely different environment than he's used to. He befriends a girl named Meiying (Wenwen Han) on his first day there, and things seem to be going smoothly; however, after taking a beating from some local kids (Cheng and friends), Dre is less than pleased with the move, and the fact that his mom wants him to learn and accept the customs and the language. Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), the maintenance man in Dre's building begins to teach Dre kung fu, so Dre can earn the respect of Cheng in an upcoming tournament.

A reviewer on IMDB stated that "the bullies remain underdeveloped and their motive is never explained; we are left to assume it was because he is the new kid?; I think that the motive was that Cheng and Meiying's parents were really close, so Cheng was looking out for her; regardless of whether or not you think there was/wasn't a motive, I personally didn't think that it took anything away from the movie; I still felt a realistic dislike between Dre and Cheng, so Chengs' true motive wasn't really an issue for me.

Script: B+
I really liked the script and it should be obvious that there will be motivational speeches (some funny, some serious): "There are no bad students, only bad teachers" and "your focus needs more focus."
There are valuable life lessons entangled in kung fu - Mr. Han states in one of his lines, that kung fu lives in everything we do (or something to that effect).
After Dre's first encounter with Cheng, it was his intention to learn kung fu as a means of revenge, however, Mr. Han's motivational speeches stresses the importance of respect, which changes Dre's motives, and in the end, he stood up to the challenge for the right reasons; Mr. Han: "You've already accomplished everything you wanted to. Why do you still want to fight?" / Dre: "Because win or lose, I don't want to be afraid any more. And I'm still afraid."
One of the most powerful moments of the movie had no dialogue at all; the scene that Dre walks into Mr. Hans house and sees the smashed car with Mr. Han in the driver seat crying, and Dre says nothing, but his actions speak louder than words in that moment.

Acting/Characters: B
It is evident that Jaden Smith did a lot of kung fu training to prepare for this movie; I was weary of his acting ability, but he was spot on! He genuinely seems frustrated with the situation he has been put in; whether he had to be upset, scared, annoyed, hurt, he did everything so well. He had such a strong presence on screen, and there were some points in which I saw his dad in him; he really does have the same mannerisms as his dad, Will Smith. He's also a great dancer and those scenes were fun to watch. He put a lot of effort into becoming this character, and it really paid off! (Side-note: it wasn't pleasant watching a 12 year-old getting beat up - Dre did get pretty roughed up at some points; but then again, it's a Hollywood movie and it did seem as if a double was used in at least one scene).

Jaden Smith wasn't the only person on screen that had a strong presence; as far as I know, this was Chan's first dramatic role, and he held his own and nailed his character dead on! His facial expressions, tone of voice and body gestures solidified the very essence of his character. It's nice to see he can still do martial arts and kick some ass.

To be completely honest, I was skeptical of Wenwen Han (Dre's crush) and Zhenwei Wang (Dre's bully). Not only did both suit their parts really well, they both also presented their characters in a very believable manner. Taraji Henson portrayed her character Sherry (Dre's mom) very well too; she didn't have a huge role in this, but each part with her in it had an impact.

Cinematography: A
The 60 days spent filming in China contributed to the cinematography in a big way. There are so many attractions that were wonderfully shot: the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and the Shaolin Temple! These attractions made for beautiful shots. Even the large field with the young kids training (in the red outfits) was filmed very well.

All the fight scenes seemed so realistic; every hit, jump, and move was very well choreographed. The movements were so fluid that it was easy to see everything that happened. The replays of the major hits during the tournament were short and sweet and highlighted the technicality of each move; although I have to add, that there were no scenes that showed Mr. Han teaching Dre the cool kicks or the slide during the tournament.

Soundtrack/Sound Effects: B+
Has really good songs by John Mayer, Flo Rida, and yes, even Justin Bieber! The sound effects were perfect; they were added in at the right times and didn't seem fake or overdone.

Overall: B+
Although it was really similar to the original, it kept my interest the entire time. The audience got to see the relationship between Dre and his mom, Han, and Meiying develop so it was worth the run time that was just over 2 hours. There are quite a few life lessons that are relayed in this movie. Pretty much everyone in this movie learns a lesson: Dre, Sherry, Mr. Han, Cheng, Meiying, and even Meiying's dad!