THE KARATE KID (REVIEW)
Starring:
Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson, Han Wen Wen.
RATED PG
140 Mins
Brace
yourself; this remake of the sacred 1984 film is actually very good. The title
is misleading, there is no karate and it is completely by the numbers storytelling.
But for some reason, against all odds, it works.
Popular around
town, 12-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) is forced to leave his home in the
economically savaged Detroit after his mum is transferred by the automotive company
she works for. The bombshell is that they are packing their bags for China. The
new surrounds for this urban boy are an eye opener. Standing out from the crowd
at school, trouble brews instantly from day one and Dre gets bashed up by the
in-house bullies after a showy game of basketball.
He does
make a friend in a quiet fellow student, Mei Ying, who catches his eye whilst
playing the violin. Her passion for the instrument is matched by her intrigue
in the new kid on the block. The boys simply don't like him and continue to beat
and harass Dre in regular intervals until the maintenance man for the apartment
block, Mr Han (Jackie Chan) comes to his rescue. He stops the beatings by showing
his fighting skills against the young attackers, then escorts Dre to the local
Kung Fu school to challenge the whole gang respectably in an upcoming tournament.
You guessed it, good versus evil, in shave coats. Thus starts a beautiful friendship.
Without
the presence of any 'wax on, wax off' techniques, it's changed to 'jacket on,
jacket off.' Mr. Han takes Dre into a new disciplinary level creating a body and
soul chemistry between the two. The big uplifting finale is crowd pleasing with
no surprises. The magical crane kick from the original has been converted into
a snake like manoeuvre, but I can live with that.
It's unusual
to see Jackie Chan so low-key. His performance is understated - there's a simple
quality to his friendship with the boy and the pair are a sterling team. Not quite
up to the standard original mentor, Pat Morita, Jackie still succeeds on his own
level. Jaden Smith, son of Hollywood royalty Will Smith, is also exceptional considering
he basically carries the whole film from the beginning. As Dre's single mother,
Academy Award nominee Taraji P. Henson ('The Curious Case of Benjamin Button',
'Date Night') shows loyalty in the fish out of water scenario, providing some
touching moments right on cue.
Moving the setting to another
country works in the film's advantage. Lovely authentic locations, including a
picturesque training session on top of the Great Wall of China, is a sight to
behold. The 1984 original, which spawned three sequels, is still the best, but
as prototypical as an inspirational script can get, think 'Rocky', everything
works. Calling it the 'Karate Kid' was not so smart, 'Kung Fu Kid' would have
been much more appropriate.
Shane A. Bassett
