THE KARATE KID (2010)

The Karate Kid stars Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan and Taraji P. Henson. Directed by Harald Zwart. Rated PG with a running time of 2 hrs. and 6 min. Obviously a remake of the beloved 80's classic The Karate Kid.

12 year old Dre Parker could've been the most popular kid in Detroit, but his mother's latest career move has landed him in China. Dre immediately falls for his classmate Mei Ying, and the feeling is mutual but cultural differences make such a friendship impossible. Even worse, Dre's feelings make an enemy of the class bully, Cheng. In the land of kung fu, Dre knows only a little karate, and Cheng puts "the karate kid" on the floor with ease. With no friends in a strange land, Dre has nowhere to turn but maintenance man Mr. Han, who is secretly a master of kung fu. As Han teaches Dre that kung fu is not about punches and parries, but maturity and calm, Dre realizes that facing down the bullies will be the fight of his life.

Well is The Karate Kid a worthy remake? Yes and No. I have mixed feelings about this one. Starting with the good, Jackie Chan is a worthy mentor but of course no one can replace the great late Pat Morita. It was nice to see Jackie Chan take on a more serious role and he did a good job. I wouldn't say his performance was oscar worthy but definitely a step in that direction. I also thought the fighting scenes at the kung fu tournament were filmed well and they looked better than the ones in the original Karate Kid.

Now the stuff that didn't work for me. The decision to make the main character a pre teen really didn't work. It just didn't seem believable that 12 year olds would be fighters like the teens in the original movie. Jaden Smith did fine but he was just too young for this movie. The original Karate Kid was more beliveable because the characters were older. I also missed the crane kick. The move used to defeat the bully at the tournament looked cool but it couldn't even compare to the original's crane kick.

This is a feel good movie and yes I did feel good at the end of the movie. Of course this remake is not even close to the original but it is enjoyable because of some solid acting by Chan and some cool fighting scenes. Flawed but worthy.

C+