The Karate Kid (2010):
No, there's no karate in it, but that's okay.
By Russell Lutz
This is a pretty good movie. I liked the original well enough, but I didn't love it. In fact, I remember thinking at the end, "Well, there's a film they won't make a sequel to." Then, three sequels later, they had apparently run the Pat Morita well dry. So now it's time to reinvent.
Jackie Chan is a good choice for the mentor role. He's at his best when he's playing serious, and this role is pretty serious. There are some moments of levity, but they rarely involve his Mr. Han smiling. As the caretaker of an apartment building for American transplants to Beijing, Chan plays the role as a sad, tired man who's simply marking time. His tutelage of a young boy seems less joyful, more like it's his penance.
Jaden Smith (who you may remember as the cute kid in "The Pursuit of Happyness" and "The Day the Earth Stood Still") is a great actor, and really gets into the physical stuff. I was stunned that a kid his age (12) could do what he does in this movie.
Uprooted from his life in Detroit, Dre (Smith) is understandably angry at his mother (Taraji P. Henson) for taking him halfway around the world to a completely alien landscape. He doesn't speak the language, and he's instantly made the victim of a local group of kung fu toughs. His only respite comes from a sweet pre-teen romance with a violinist.
My only real issue with the film is the formulaic way it shifts the emotional tone. Dre has a nice moment with his girlfried; Dre gets attacked by bullies; Dre has another nice moment with his girlfriend; Dre gets attacked again by bullies. This pattern continues for a little too long before Mr. Han jumps in and saves Dre.
From then on, it's the original film all over again (minus the karate). I didn't mind the slavish devotion to the well known plot points: the mentor's dark secret, the one foot fighting stance, the hurt leg in the penultumate match, etc. Each is handled a little better than the original, really. And each fits this story and setting well enough.
I have to give the director credit for NOT having Jackie Chan do more than the one ass-kicking scene. This film wasn't about him. It was about Jaden Smith. And I'll be really surprised (and a little sorry) if they don't manage to get a sequel going.
