We were wondering who would be best to see Karate Kid and of course we chose the idealist of us all, Salty Popcorn. Trained in the ancient arts, he is the only other person on this earth apart from The Bride who knows the five Five Pointed Palm Exploding Heart Technique . So with a trained eye he has turned it to the new Karate Kid. Here’s what he said:
Sony put on charity screenings of this film on Sunday and for the first time in a long time I queued up and bought a ticket. It was going towards the Sony Foundation that is dedicated to raising money and opening cancer wards for children. I was happy to part with my money knowing it was going to a good cause.
I wasn't expecting too much but was blown away by such a successful re-imagining. I had a few gripes but was generally overly impressed by the film. 12-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) could've been the most popular kid in Detroit, but his mother's (Taraji P. Henson) latest career move has landed him in China. Dre immediately falls for his classmate Mei Ying - and the feeling is mutual - but cultural differences make such a friendship impossible. Even worse, Dre's feelings make an enemy of the class bully, Cheng. In the land of kung fu, Dre knows only a little karate, and Cheng puts "the karate kid" on the floor with ease. With no friends in a strange land, Dre has nowhere to turn but maintenance man Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), who is secretly a master of kung fu. As Han teaches Dre that kung fu is not about punches and parries, but maturity and calm, Dre realizes that facing down the bullies will be the fight of his life.
My first gripe about the film is that the martial arts used in the film is Kung Fu and not Karate and originally the film was going to be called The Kung Fu Kid - I would have been way more happier if they stuck with this. Sure it is exactly the same basic story as The Karate Kid but at least it would have been accurate - this time the studios, I think, wanted to cash in on the originals and abundance of remakes of late - although this has been a major negative for a lot of remakes as there is so much to compare them to and a lot of them have been crap.
My second gripe is the age of Dre (Jaden Smith) - I just found him too young for the part, more so the part of his love interest - do not get me wrong Jaden owns this movie and for me steals every scene. However, Dre (Jaden) is 12yrs old and has a a "thing" for a local girl, I am pretty sure at the age of 12 I was still more concerned about girl's germs as opposed to scoring a date. That plus my my godson, surprisingly also known as Jayden is the same age and is going nowhere near girls at this stage - he thinks its even ludicrous that I ask him about them. That being said Jaden Smith is sensational and has all the charisma of his father and he has the cute factor, he is the cutest little kid and when he cries you want to help him, so straight away you are sucked in to his plight. He is also extremely funny and knows how to work that camera - I think he has some great acting coaches in his parents. Watch his space - this kid is going to own Hollywood one day.
Jackie Chan is ok as Mr Han but lacks the Yoda-like wisdom of Mr Miyagi, but what I found worked so well in this is the chemistry between Smith and Chan - you could see the bond of childless parental figure to fatherless child develop during the film and it was great to watch. There was genuine love between the characters and they cared whole-heartedly for each other.
The fighting and action scenes are well choreographed and better than the originals and I found Dre's nemesis more threatening than the blonde haired freak from the first films. This film is much darker in it's bullying. This was one of the things that I love about this story - the school bullying factor, I was a bullied a lot at school and still harbour great loathing for one of my bullies - David Johnson - I hope you are in a world of hurt It shows that running to authority figures will not help you, although in this day and age if you don't it is possible you will end up stabbed or shot at school. It has an earlier generation's belief of fighting back and win or lose you will earn respect. This does work and while I was scared to death of fighting back at school Dre's journey fulfils a fantasy I wish I had done.
Another part of this film I really enjoyed was the setting of China, even though filming in China was completely unnecessary the cinematography is stunning and the remote parts of country China they venture to are beautiful. The training on the Great Wall is a highlight for me. It not only successfully deals with bullying it also shows a new culture in a fresh and friendly way. Even though unnecessary it is a success and also guarantees a great box office in China, a place that is very hard to get a film released.
One more gripe for the film is its length - Dre is not assaulted until exactly 45min into the film and I found it dragged leading up to it especially since I knew the basic story already - 30min could easily have been cut. But this film is marketed for tweens and twinks but I think its success and the fact it made its entire budget back on its opening weekend in the US is that it has universal appeal to adults and children alike from nearly every country. I am actually excited about a sequel prospect.
Karate Kid is releasing on July 8 in Australia and it just won an appeal to have its rating dropped from an M rating to a PG so you can take the kids to this one. Keep your eye on Jaden, he is going to go far and I would kill to have his flexibility and looks. My friend Tommy also loved it and says the only thing that totally sux is Jaden singing a duet with Bieber over the closing credits Worth 9 out of 10.