Hey guys. Saw the Karate Kid, here's my opinion, please be impressed.
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The Karate Kid is yet another remake of yet another classic film that I never bothered to see all the way through. I knew the basic story and all the main scenes of the original, but I went to go see this with a fresh perspective, not judging it on the quality of how it retold the story, but simply on its quality as a film. As such, I found the Karate Kid a hilarious, fun, heartwarming and positively inspiring film, though it occassionally gets lost in its own grandiosity.
The Karate Kid tells the story of Dre, played by Jaden Smith--son of the ever legendary Will Smith. Dre and his mom have just left their home in Detroit to move to China.
Take your time, it's a big stretch. I was scratching my head for awhile trying to decipher how one justifies moving a clearly low-income family from the Detroit projects to Beijing, and the movie hand-waves it by saying that Dre's mother was transferred to a factory there. Yeah. Sure. Just roll with it, the Chinese setting works.
On his first day in his new home, Dre makes a friend of another foreign kid, meets a cute Chinese girl, and gets BRUTALLY beaten up by the most psychotic Chinese kid who ever lived, a little kung-fu prodigy named Cheng (Zhenwei Wang). Cheng instructs Dre in the meaning of pain in one of many ghoulishly violent and well-choreographed ass-kicking sequence, and proceeds to turn the young foreigner's life into a living hell, taking time out of his busy day to torment, torture, assault and otherwise intimidate young Dre until he simply can't take it anymore. Regardless, Dre wants to solve his own problem and fight his own battles, and doesn't ask for help, even as Cheng's merciless antagonism reaches fever pitch.
As Dre searches for something in China he can relate to, he meets Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), the scruffy maintenance man for his apartment building. Chan expressed pride in his ability to do a non-comedic performance, and y'know what? He's got a lot to be proud of. Chan is well-known for his acrobatic, high-energy, incomprehensible performances on screen, but here we have him as a subdued, low-key, quiet character with a tragic past, and he performs admirably. I don't think he was neccessarilly the best choice for the role, but Chan is endlessly watchable, and he makes for an interesting and energetic mentor--an homage to the Mr. Miyagi of the original film, but not an outright clone.
Mr. Han saves Dre from a particularly nasty attack by his bullies, and after some initial uncomfortableness, they forge a bond. Mr. Han, as it turns out, is secretly a kung-fu master, and Dre wants him to teach him the art so that he can defend himself. Reluctant, Han agrees to teach him after inadvertently getting the boy entered in a kung-fu tournament. So then the movie becomes a stream of training montages, philosophical lectures, and wacky antics, building to the tournament itself as the ultimate climax.
There's one reason to watch this movie, and that reason is the young star, Jaden Smith. At the tender age of 12, Jaden is a shocking expy of his father. He has the same swagger, the same cocky mannerisms and tendency to shoot one-liners that could only have been ad-libbed with all the grace and ease of the Fresh Prince himself. Despite being relatively new to acting, Smith proves himself to be endlessly watchable, combining the innocence of youth with the cockiness that only Will Smith could inspire, and the end result is a dynamic and entertaining performance with only one or two flat notes. Smith will make you laugh moreso than any other character in this movie, and his drive and evolution as a character enhances this movie beyond its formulaic plot structure.
This movie takes place in China for one reason only--because the producers of this movie thought China was AWESOME. There's tons and tons of long, lingering shots of beautiful misty mountains, the Forbidden City and Great Wall, modern Beijing and its rustic slums and parks, elaborate and dazzling festivals and, of course, a dizzying climb to an ancient kung-fu monastery high in the mountains. In fact, this movie gets a little TOO caught up in its desire to show off--Smith and Chan seem to travel to incredible locations, like the Great Wall, solely because they look awesome to train in. It's a little hard to take seriously, but it certainly doesn't hurt the movie outside of its believability. The shots of China are exquisite and beautiful, and judging from the opening credits, clearly the Chinese Government is trying to encourage Westerners to visit the country. Of course, there's little-to-no mention of all the icky nasty Communism or its unfortunate implications in either the country's history or its current situation, but I suppose that'd kill the buzz a bit.
Honestly, I reccomend this movie because it's genuinely fun and, more than that, it has a lot of heart. They could have so very easily just regurgitated the Karate Kid and put out yet another mindless remake in lieu of making an original picture, but they didn't. Instead, we're given an interesting, energizing, dynamic film, showcasing a fresh young talent and including a lot of fun and interesting characters and locales. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll cheer along to Dre's journey, and who knows? It might inspire you to get up and chase those dreams you've been letting go away.
Now, if you excuse me, I've got to go practice my kung-fu. Take coat off...put coat on the ground...pick coat up...hang up coat...
Crowning Moment of Awesome: This is an easy pick--the final showdown between Dre and Cheng at the kung-fu tournament. This movie's fight scenes are outstanding, if strangely bloodless. I guess it's alright if 12-year-olds kick the shit out of each other so long as no one gets a bloody nose. Anyway, the final fight pits two enemies in the ring and even as Dre has to deal with injuries and dirty fighting, he still produces a spectacular finisher, defying the LAWS OF PHYSICS to do a full 360 flip in the air and kick his opponent out of the ring. It is completely impossible, but thoroughly awesome, and isn't that what these crowning moments are all about?
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The Karate Kid is yet another remake of yet another classic film that I never bothered to see all the way through. I knew the basic story and all the main scenes of the original, but I went to go see this with a fresh perspective, not judging it on the quality of how it retold the story, but simply on its quality as a film. As such, I found the Karate Kid a hilarious, fun, heartwarming and positively inspiring film, though it occassionally gets lost in its own grandiosity.
The Karate Kid tells the story of Dre, played by Jaden Smith--son of the ever legendary Will Smith. Dre and his mom have just left their home in Detroit to move to China.
Take your time, it's a big stretch. I was scratching my head for awhile trying to decipher how one justifies moving a clearly low-income family from the Detroit projects to Beijing, and the movie hand-waves it by saying that Dre's mother was transferred to a factory there. Yeah. Sure. Just roll with it, the Chinese setting works.
On his first day in his new home, Dre makes a friend of another foreign kid, meets a cute Chinese girl, and gets BRUTALLY beaten up by the most psychotic Chinese kid who ever lived, a little kung-fu prodigy named Cheng (Zhenwei Wang). Cheng instructs Dre in the meaning of pain in one of many ghoulishly violent and well-choreographed ass-kicking sequence, and proceeds to turn the young foreigner's life into a living hell, taking time out of his busy day to torment, torture, assault and otherwise intimidate young Dre until he simply can't take it anymore. Regardless, Dre wants to solve his own problem and fight his own battles, and doesn't ask for help, even as Cheng's merciless antagonism reaches fever pitch.
As Dre searches for something in China he can relate to, he meets Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), the scruffy maintenance man for his apartment building. Chan expressed pride in his ability to do a non-comedic performance, and y'know what? He's got a lot to be proud of. Chan is well-known for his acrobatic, high-energy, incomprehensible performances on screen, but here we have him as a subdued, low-key, quiet character with a tragic past, and he performs admirably. I don't think he was neccessarilly the best choice for the role, but Chan is endlessly watchable, and he makes for an interesting and energetic mentor--an homage to the Mr. Miyagi of the original film, but not an outright clone.
Mr. Han saves Dre from a particularly nasty attack by his bullies, and after some initial uncomfortableness, they forge a bond. Mr. Han, as it turns out, is secretly a kung-fu master, and Dre wants him to teach him the art so that he can defend himself. Reluctant, Han agrees to teach him after inadvertently getting the boy entered in a kung-fu tournament. So then the movie becomes a stream of training montages, philosophical lectures, and wacky antics, building to the tournament itself as the ultimate climax.
There's one reason to watch this movie, and that reason is the young star, Jaden Smith. At the tender age of 12, Jaden is a shocking expy of his father. He has the same swagger, the same cocky mannerisms and tendency to shoot one-liners that could only have been ad-libbed with all the grace and ease of the Fresh Prince himself. Despite being relatively new to acting, Smith proves himself to be endlessly watchable, combining the innocence of youth with the cockiness that only Will Smith could inspire, and the end result is a dynamic and entertaining performance with only one or two flat notes. Smith will make you laugh moreso than any other character in this movie, and his drive and evolution as a character enhances this movie beyond its formulaic plot structure.
This movie takes place in China for one reason only--because the producers of this movie thought China was AWESOME. There's tons and tons of long, lingering shots of beautiful misty mountains, the Forbidden City and Great Wall, modern Beijing and its rustic slums and parks, elaborate and dazzling festivals and, of course, a dizzying climb to an ancient kung-fu monastery high in the mountains. In fact, this movie gets a little TOO caught up in its desire to show off--Smith and Chan seem to travel to incredible locations, like the Great Wall, solely because they look awesome to train in. It's a little hard to take seriously, but it certainly doesn't hurt the movie outside of its believability. The shots of China are exquisite and beautiful, and judging from the opening credits, clearly the Chinese Government is trying to encourage Westerners to visit the country. Of course, there's little-to-no mention of all the icky nasty Communism or its unfortunate implications in either the country's history or its current situation, but I suppose that'd kill the buzz a bit.
Honestly, I reccomend this movie because it's genuinely fun and, more than that, it has a lot of heart. They could have so very easily just regurgitated the Karate Kid and put out yet another mindless remake in lieu of making an original picture, but they didn't. Instead, we're given an interesting, energizing, dynamic film, showcasing a fresh young talent and including a lot of fun and interesting characters and locales. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll cheer along to Dre's journey, and who knows? It might inspire you to get up and chase those dreams you've been letting go away.
Now, if you excuse me, I've got to go practice my kung-fu. Take coat off...put coat on the ground...pick coat up...hang up coat...
Crowning Moment of Awesome: This is an easy pick--the final showdown between Dre and Cheng at the kung-fu tournament. This movie's fight scenes are outstanding, if strangely bloodless. I guess it's alright if 12-year-olds kick the shit out of each other so long as no one gets a bloody nose. Anyway, the final fight pits two enemies in the ring and even as Dre has to deal with injuries and dirty fighting, he still produces a spectacular finisher, defying the LAWS OF PHYSICS to do a full 360 flip in the air and kick his opponent out of the ring. It is completely impossible, but thoroughly awesome, and isn't that what these crowning moments are all about?
