The Karate Kid (2010) film review
Given the number of mediocre to rubbish remakes that have hit cinema screens the past few years, it made sense to be cynical upfront about The Karate Kid – starring Will Smith’s son Jaden and martial arts icon Jackie Chan. Not only did it feel like a remake of the beloved 1984 original (a rousing coming-of-age sports drama) was unnecessary, but with the 2010 film shifting its focus from Japanese karate to Chinese kung fu, even the movie’s title sounded stupid.
The thing is, just as The Karate Kid’s young hero underdog surprises his opponents, so the new Karate Kid movie stuns audiences. Despite its predictable plot, this remake is highly enjoyable and charming, making it probably the best live-action family film of the year.
Anyone familiar with the other four(!) Karate Kid films, or anyone who has ever watched a sports drama, will immediately identify the formula behind The Karate Kid 2010. 12 year old Dre Parker (Smith) arrives in a new city with his single mother, and as an outsider is immediately targeted by local bullies, especially when he falls for a pretty local girl. Miserable and badly beaten, Dre is befriended by Mr Han (Chan), the reticent caretaker of his apartment block. Mr Han takes pity on Dre and teaches him martial arts so that he can confront his bullies at an upcoming tournament, publicly defeating them and his fears once and for all.
Plot wise, that’s pretty much all there is to The Karate Kid. So don’t expect any great surprises. What the remake cleverly adds to the mix, however, is a change in setting. The Karate Kid 2010 takes place in China, with Dre and his mother moving to Beijing from the United States. Not only is this continental jump, and resulting culture clash, an excellent way to accentuate Dre’s fish-out-of-water status, but the location shift also turns The Karate Kid into a fascinating, colourful snapshot of a country rarely depicted positively in Western films.
Of course the usual tourist clichés pop up onscreen – such as the Forbidden City and Great Wall of China – but mostly the film is set in the Chinese capital and portrays it as a forward thinking (and moving) city, with a surprising amount of multiculturalism, and a population of friendly, accommodating locals as opposed to grim Communist authorities. In fact Beijing comes off looking a lot better in The Karate Kid than Dre’s hometown of Detroit, which is briefly glimpsed as trash strewn, covered with graffiti and utterly dilapidated. You could of course argue that this is all pro-China propaganda, but at the same time the film’s unusually optimistic, non-cynical attitude has to be appreciated.
What also helps carry The Karate Kid is its appealing performances. Jaden Smith demonstrates his father’s ability to finely balance cockiness and vulnerability, and he’s a likeable lead with convincing martial arts talent. Jackie Chan meanwhile provides his darkest, most intriguing and touching performance as reclusive Mr Han. This isn’t the goofy, cheerful Chan of so many action comedies and he’s unexpectedly emotionally effective. Chan is, of course, also still devastatingly effective as a martial artist and one of the film’s highlight sequences is his defence of Dre.
In fact it’s worth mentioning at this point that the fight scenes in The Karate Kid are electric. Although largely bloodless, the kung fu battles are wince worthy in their brutality. Don’t expect wire stunts and feather light touches in The Karate Kid. The tween cast dish out and receive full contact body blows.
With a likeable cast then, a catchy pop soundtrack and a strong sense of real physical consequence, it’s difficult not to rally behind Dre and Han by the end of The Karate Kid. The film may be lightweight in terms of storyline but it’s inspiring and enjoyable nonetheless. The audience I watched the film with, were even cheering and applauding as the credits started rolling.
The thing is, just as The Karate Kid’s young hero underdog surprises his opponents, so the new Karate Kid movie stuns audiences. Despite its predictable plot, this remake is highly enjoyable and charming, making it probably the best live-action family film of the year.
Anyone familiar with the other four(!) Karate Kid films, or anyone who has ever watched a sports drama, will immediately identify the formula behind The Karate Kid 2010. 12 year old Dre Parker (Smith) arrives in a new city with his single mother, and as an outsider is immediately targeted by local bullies, especially when he falls for a pretty local girl. Miserable and badly beaten, Dre is befriended by Mr Han (Chan), the reticent caretaker of his apartment block. Mr Han takes pity on Dre and teaches him martial arts so that he can confront his bullies at an upcoming tournament, publicly defeating them and his fears once and for all.
Plot wise, that’s pretty much all there is to The Karate Kid. So don’t expect any great surprises. What the remake cleverly adds to the mix, however, is a change in setting. The Karate Kid 2010 takes place in China, with Dre and his mother moving to Beijing from the United States. Not only is this continental jump, and resulting culture clash, an excellent way to accentuate Dre’s fish-out-of-water status, but the location shift also turns The Karate Kid into a fascinating, colourful snapshot of a country rarely depicted positively in Western films.
Of course the usual tourist clichés pop up onscreen – such as the Forbidden City and Great Wall of China – but mostly the film is set in the Chinese capital and portrays it as a forward thinking (and moving) city, with a surprising amount of multiculturalism, and a population of friendly, accommodating locals as opposed to grim Communist authorities. In fact Beijing comes off looking a lot better in The Karate Kid than Dre’s hometown of Detroit, which is briefly glimpsed as trash strewn, covered with graffiti and utterly dilapidated. You could of course argue that this is all pro-China propaganda, but at the same time the film’s unusually optimistic, non-cynical attitude has to be appreciated.
What also helps carry The Karate Kid is its appealing performances. Jaden Smith demonstrates his father’s ability to finely balance cockiness and vulnerability, and he’s a likeable lead with convincing martial arts talent. Jackie Chan meanwhile provides his darkest, most intriguing and touching performance as reclusive Mr Han. This isn’t the goofy, cheerful Chan of so many action comedies and he’s unexpectedly emotionally effective. Chan is, of course, also still devastatingly effective as a martial artist and one of the film’s highlight sequences is his defence of Dre.
In fact it’s worth mentioning at this point that the fight scenes in The Karate Kid are electric. Although largely bloodless, the kung fu battles are wince worthy in their brutality. Don’t expect wire stunts and feather light touches in The Karate Kid. The tween cast dish out and receive full contact body blows.
With a likeable cast then, a catchy pop soundtrack and a strong sense of real physical consequence, it’s difficult not to rally behind Dre and Han by the end of The Karate Kid. The film may be lightweight in terms of storyline but it’s inspiring and enjoyable nonetheless. The audience I watched the film with, were even cheering and applauding as the credits started rolling.
Comments
"The new Karate Kid movie was good tbh, I enjoyed watching it. But looking at it from a technical point of view, they can't call it Karate Kid when he is taught Kung Fu... seriously.
Despite the title, Jaden Smith did well casting the character. His mother in the story probably could have been more of a drama queen, but I'm super glad she wasn't. I think Jackie Chan did well too in showing us the old, yet humble teacher. He even walked like an old man hehe."
Also, they chose pretty cool tunes for the sound track :)
I think they captured the old Karate Kid, with a new twist of Kung Fu. There were even moments in the movie when you think they are going to do the "wax on, wax off" part, but then they do something different so it's not actually the same movie as the old one :P