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The
Karate Kid
isn’t so much a
remake as it is
homage to the 80’s
movie. It takes
place in a different
country, China. The
characters have
different names and
backgrounds, and
even the plot is
different. There are
just certain
elements to the new
movie that are the
same as the old
movie. The
characters have the
same roles/duties
and the ending is
basically the same.
Oh… and he learns
Kung Fu… not really
Karate.
Dre Parker and his
mom are from
Detroit, and with
the economic
problems the City
faces they are
forced to relocate.
Dre’s mom Sherry
Parker, gets her
transferred from
Detroit to China and
a 14 year old kid,
moves to China. Not
just a little bit of
a culture shock… a
major culture shock.
From there the
similarities with
rolls from the old
movie and the new
movie start to roll
in. Dre enrolls at a
new school; he gets
bullied by a group
of kids that belong
to a dojo. The dojo
teacher is pretty
much evil. Dre gets
desperate and he
finds a Kung Fu
teacher, they bond
and grow close. Dre
also gets involved
with a girl at
school, they develop
a romance despite
some outside
problems… you see
what I mean… the
roles are similar.
The
Karate Kid
has lots of things
going for it. First
the acting was
fantastic. Jayden
Smith wasn’t
remarkable but he
was good enough. You
did connect with him
as a main character
in the lead role.
And he was
definitely
believable. Jackie
Chan was fantastic.
This is the best
he’s been in any
movie, ever. He was
compassionate and
multi-dimensional,
he was 100%
believable and he
was amazing. The two
actors that were
almost as good as
Chan were the
Chinese child
actors, Wenwen Han
who played Meiying,
she was amazing. And
the main villain in
the movie Zhenwei
Wang as the bully
Cheng, was
terrifying. I’ve
never been scared of
a 14 year old kid
before, but if I saw
Cheng on the street
and he gave me a
scowl… I might take
off running.
The other thing this
has going for it is
its cinematography.
The scenes on the
Great Wall and the
scenes at the temple
were beautiful and
even the scenes in
Shanghai looked
fantastic, they
looked dirty and
grungy but beautiful
at the same time.
Great acting and
better direction
made Karate Kid
enjoyable.
The things that
didn’t make Karate
Kid enjoyable
include the moments
demoed towards young
teens. Like the
Meiying and Dre
playing Dance Dance
Revolution and
dancing to Lady Ga
Ga… not a great
moment. The moments
where they played
that card are few
but they did it
enough to make you
stick your nose up
slightly… (This
happens at the end
too… just not an
ending that can be
believed.)
The extras on the
single disc Blu-ray
aren’t fantastic.
There’s a making of
clip and there’s
also a music video
with Justin Bieber
and Jayden Smith
that hits 10 on the
unintentional comedy
scale.
The
Karate Kid
is a fun movie. It’s
not as good as the
original but it’s
different enough to
be its own entity
opposed to a lot of
the other remakes
we’ve seen. The
acting was good and
the film looked
great, even the idea
of having it in
China was fantastic.
It’s not something
you’ll watch over
and over, but it’s
definitely a good
first-watch.
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