Everyone is talking about this movie and there's a big debate about the title and the story of the movie Karate Kid starring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith, son of actor Will Smith. But there are mixed reviews from good to bad one and raves from new viewers of Karate Kid and some purist and fans of the classic movie by Pat Morita and Ralph Macchio.
The classic film is played every time in our local cable tv and also in a local channel and I heard that many viewers didn't like the classic film, while others aimed to support the new film, but given the respect to the classic film, some say that Jackie Chan Karate Kid is for the new generation and an ongoing legacy of discipline, respect, hard work, and love of the classic Karate Kid. I just saw the film and I'm posting here my reviews and some reactions.
check out below for more reviews and feature of the movie
The story
It's about the big move to China and a decision that Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) should follow from her mom because there's nothing left in them back in Detroit after Dre's dad died, and her mom was transferred to China to work in a car factory, so the big move to China is the 1st step they need to do in order to adjust in life and go on with other plans like live in a new environment and study and be a foreigner in China. But there are problems and conflicts encountered by Dre on the very 1st day of their stay in Beijing and the story continues on facing your fear and survive being alone and meet this old maintenance guy of their apartment.
my comments about the story
I really like the transition of the story from start up to the beginning, they did a good introduction of the characters and also the development of each main characters didn't encounter any problem as each line and scenes are not boring and draggy, each scene from Detroit to China is interesting and watching the movie is like going on field trip to China, my focus was lost as I saw the landscape and the suburb of Beijing, so many places to see and love to see the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. But the places in China were featured and supported by the character of Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) and Dre (Jaden Smith), its a different view of the Karate Kid movie and gives much more clearer picture that they really are in China and the mystery and legend of Kung Fu has been narrated here. The story still follows the classic Karate kid movie, being bullied, live alone, meet new people, fall in love, training martial arts, discipline and standing up after falling down.
The actors
I dont have any complain if the film is a Jackie Chan movie, but I see a different Jackie Chan here as maintenance guy and Kung Fu teacher Mr. Han, we see some moves and the classic Kung Fu style of Jackie Chan but he is more a teacher here and not a super action star or stunt guy, but I love that I saw a lot of drama and acting from Jackie Chan as he transformed himself as an old semi-crippled guy, and his character shows a lot of facial gestures that requires no movements or remove your concept of Jackie Chan as a Kung Fu expert in the movie, a different Jackie Chan but the character he portrays here is similar to Pat Morita's Mr. Miyagi in the old Karate Kid film. And regarding to the main actor Jaden Smith, I have a lot of doubts on the first place, but when I saw the movie, my mind changes and all I can say is that this kid deserve to have more movies (just like his father) and he act likes Will Smith, with a lot of humor and also a strong drama, his emotions like getting hurt transfers to the feel of the audience and damn, I can see a lot of beatings here and Jaden Smith did a great job in doing all those stunts and wow! a kid in his 12 year old age can do Kung Fu and beaten up and see him do training in China, he really proves that this movie gave him a lot of work out and training and its fun to see that Jaden Smith is the center focus here and not to Jackie Chan. For the acting of other characters are great! especially the Chinese kid who beats Jaden here, he is one cool antagonist, you will hate him until the end of the film hahahha.
The Karate Kid vs. The Kung Fu Kid
There's a big debate that why the title for Karate Kid and not instead of Kung Fu Kid, we can see here that the new movie is not a remake and got the main story concept and it is the same with the classic film Karate Kid, while in this new film they showed the main character uses Kung Fu and it was the focus of the story and didn't even use Karate as a form of martial arts just like in the old movie. We can say that the new movie follows the legacy of the classic film where Mr. Miyagi trains Daniel LaRusso in karate martial arts and instead of bringing in the fight in the street, they will settle everything and continue the fight in a karate tournament, the problem of bad teachers in teaching students the bad way of karate was shown in the old movie, but here in the new movie carries the same concept, it has a close resemblance and its fun to watch it especially if you are a big fan of the classic film, you will see a lot of elements of the old Karate Kid in this new movie, I won't discuss it here and I let you see the movie and discover this elements.
There are a lot of rants out there that the movie should be titled Kung Fu Kid, my comment on that part is that the movie might be considered a rip off of the classic film, and it is much better to get the same title Karate Kid so that the legacy of the old film will still be carried and new viewers will get a chance to know about the old film and discover that there's an original movie that exist, but I heard from a movie blogger friend that in other Asian countries, the title of the movie was changed to Kung Fu Kid and not Karate Kid, but if you watch the movie you can still see some elements and signs that Karate exist in the new movie.
the final note
I like the movie and I still respect the old movie, but the new movie here shows more story and emotion than the old film, I know that the old film is more cheesy and because of the 80's years, there's a big difference in film making back then, but the approach of Karate Kid 2010 is the start of the new story with powerful messages, in other words, it is more realistic and fun to see the beauty of China. I recommend the movie to all ages and kids will love it, but parental guidance is still advised due to that fighting is bad and we should teach our kids that taking martial arts is not for fighting but for defense and world peace.
my rate for this movie is 5 stars out of 5 stars
and I wish for a sequel and I want Ralph Macchio to appear on it
and the concept of Dre entering in a Kung Fu world tournament and later in mix martial arts competition.
