Can you capture lightning in a bottle, twice? That was the goal and ambition with the remake of the '80s cult classic, The Karate Kid, starring Jaden Smith (the son of Will) and Jackie Chan. Even through all the marked similarities between the original and this newer version, the film still manages to pack a powerful punch and deliver the thrills and cheers of the original with a bigger budget at its disposal.
The story follows the original almost by verbatim, but instead of our hero moving from New Jersey to California, he moves from Detroit to Beijing, China where he learns Kung Fu, not Karate. But after all that, the scene structure is for the most part the same as the original. Our hero, Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) arrives in China, knowing nobody, but there is a shimmer of hope when he meets a cute Chinese girl who's interested in him, but he must contend with the bullies of his new school who train at the meanest and baddest Kung Fu Dojo around with a teacher who teaches them, "No Mercy!" But alas, Dre starts forging a relationship with the maintenance man at his apartment complex, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), and Mr. Han starts teaching Dre Kung Fu in order to let him take on the bullies one-on-one at the big Kung Fu Tournament coming up.
So yeah, in many spots the film kind of has a been there, seen it vibe to it all, in particular in the beginning and end. As it is, having seen the original, it is very hard to look past all of the similarities, especially since in the first hour or so you can pretty much predict what the next scene will be about, even what the dialogue will sometimes be. But of course, there is a reason it all worked the first time around, it's a good, crowd pleasing formula, and it still delivers even with different settings and characters. But there is a segment in the middle, when Dre finally starts learning Kung Fu from Mr. Han that the film really starts coming into its own and becomes its own entity.
While the movie starts out exceedingly similar, the story quickly lets you know not all is the same. First they train Kung Fu, not Karate, and second, the main characters are not teenagers but rather kids, so it actually is a Karate Kid this time around. With it being kids, the romance plays as a first love sort of thing and not just a high school romance, so in those regards the film actually delivers far better. And they do Dre's training in such a way that it feels vastly different, and in many ways his training is the highlight of the film, such as when Mr. Han and Dre train in the courtyard at night and their silhouettes and their shadows race across the walls; the scene is iconic.
The acting was very spot on. While Jaden Smith's Dre was very similar in emotional reaction as Ralph Macchio's Daniel, he did a fine job. As well, Jackie Chan's Mr. Han is not just a mirror version of Mr. Miyagi. Mr. Miyagi was Pat Morita, and in this film it feels as if they tailored Mr. Han to fit better with Chan's own abilities and own screen persona. Mr. Han does not have as many one-liners as Mr. Miyagi, and he is far more serious of a person than Miyagi. In particular, where as Mr. Miyagi was kind of like Daniel's crazy uncle or friend, Mr. Han becomes more like Dre's father by the end of the film. These vast differences in characterizations between Mr. Han and Mr. Miyagi is actually one of the finer aspects of this film, and I've gotta say I've never seen Jackie Chan deliver such a fine dramatic performance.
So while it is all predictable, if you have no knowledge of the '80s romp you're gonna love it, and even if you do have knowledge of the original, you're still gonna get a good kick out of watching Dre fighting to the top of the heap, cause the formula still works. With slight, subtle differences in story, the film manages to come into its own just enough for anyone to enjoy, and to put it simple, it's the best around.
I give The Karate Kid an A!
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