The Karate Kid: a movie review

A movie review “The Karate Kid”.


When I first heard about The karate kid remake, lets just say I was less than enthused.
I loved the original. I had one of my first “whiteboy” crushes on young Danielson.
I felt his frustration when he had to “wax on, wax off” not understanding how it would help him learn to fight.
My eyes burned holding back the tears when he was hurt in the final match.
I gasped in fear when Sensei Kreese gave instructions to “sweep the leg”.


Suffice to say, I didn’t think a remake made any sense at all.
But I have a 7 year old daughter and a 30 year old husband, (which is pretty redundant when it comes to things of this nature) so I had to go see it.

We get there and it starts a little slow.
The mom is forced to move to China (what? isn’t karate the Japanese art of fighting?)
For a new job, we never find out what it is though.
The little boy meets a new kid, and new girl and the resident Chinese kung fu (Yes. That’s right, it’s the karate kid, but they actually don’t do karate. They are masters of kung fu).
Masters are not all that excited about his interest in the girl.
The movie definitely started slow, allowing me to get all of the snark out of my system.
We meet Jackie Chan about 20 minutes in. Chan; normally known for his slapstick comedy and martial arts ability; is very believable in the dramatic role of Mr.Han; an emotionally damaged janitor who becomes Dre’s Mr. Miyagi.

The movie pics ups after this and you barely notice the 2 hr+ running time.

The fight scenes are intense and violent. I found myself tensing and flinching through most of them and several times a “DAYUM” left my lips before I was able to catch it.

The little boy sitting next to me even responded to one particularly violent pass
“Daddy, he kicked him so hard I dropped all my popcorn!”

There is also a very cute, age appropriate love story that develops along the way.

Jaden Smith is very good in this role. I found myself cheering for him through out the movie, and found myself feeling like a proud parent to a child Ive never met.


I still think the whole “everything is Kung Fu” was very tired and makes no sense.
And “jack-et on, jack-et off” is no “wax on, wax off” but other than that the training scenes are amazing. China is beautiful and allows for some breathtaking imagery, especially in the sacred temple Dre and Han visit on one of their training excursions.

The ending of the movie was heartfelt and climactic even though we knew how it would end. I still held my breath during each match, I still gasped when the inevitable injury occurred and I stood up and cheered at the end, along with several other movie goers.
I also think Dre’s finishing move, might, just might be a little better than the Danielson Crane, though definitely not as easily learned. Or believable. But still Awesome.

In other words, a bit slow but overall a good movie. Not better than the original but a definite new take and equally as good.
Go See it.