Before giving my opinion on this movie I have to admit that I hardly remember anything about the 1984 original. I watched the original trailer on Youtube and still a lot of scenes were not familiar. So it’s been a while since I saw that version. As this new movie is targeted towards kids there will probably not be a lot of them who have seen the original. So I will not make comparisons. The new Karate Kid is a remake that takes the idea of the original and gives it its own twist.
Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) has to move to China as his mother landed a new job there. He did not practise his Chinese as much as he should, so when arriving it means it’s harder to understand what’s going on around him. It’s all very strange to him.
He does meet another kid who speaks English, but it doesn’t take long for him to get into a fight with a local boy in which he is beaten badly. He meets the concierge (Jackie Chan) and finds out that he’s very good in Kung Fu. Dre asks him is he can teach him so he can fight back.
With this type of movie you can predict what is going to happen (including the mandatory montage of the training). Everything has been shot very well. The sets look great and some beautiful locations were chosen (like the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City).
This is the first movie I’ve seen Jaden Smith act (I never saw The Pursuit of Happyness), but I was impressed by his acting. He knows how to show his emotions without overdoing it and really acted convincingly. If he keeps his acting up it wouldn’t surprise me if he would become as big a star as his father is.
Jackie Chan also shows that without doing any comedy he can be an excellent actor as well.
The Karate Kid is a successful remake that managed to entertain me. I do hope that no sequels will be made is this is not necessary. This movie feels complete and is fun for both younger and older viewers.
Score: 7