DVD Reviews

The Karate Kid

• Rating:
• Director: Harald Zwart
• Starring: Jackie Chan
• Details: US/139mins 12A

While not held in the same type of nostalgic-ridden esteem as other 80s stalwarts The Goonies and The Monster Squad, the original Karate Kid was nonetheless a huge hit, which spawned three unnecessary sequels. Measuring this Jaden Smith starring remake against it is essentially pointless; the only thing it has taken from the original is its title and parts of the plot. Our central character is a lot younger, the setting more exotic, and the titular martial art, Karate, replaced with Kung Fu. That may cause some to see this as merely a money making exercise, taking a familiar title that triggers something with audiences; and it is, but it's also enjoyable enough fluff.
Son of Big Willy, Jaden is a Detroit youngster Dre, who is forced to move to China when his mother gets a job in the Far East. Finding it difficult to settle in, he meets a talented young local, and a tween romance grows between the pair. But she is from a strict family who want their daughter to succeed with a violin, not frolic with a foreigner. Just as her and Dre are getting to know each other, a family friend who also has a crush lays the smack down on a hapless Dre, and then begins a sequence of hardcore bullying, making the outsiders life a misery. Help comes in the form of his buildings handyman, Mr. Han, played by Jackie Chan, who teaches our hero some moves to defend himself, and inadvertently enters him in a competition against his assailants.
Coming in at an arse-numbing two hours and twenty minutes, there is absolutely no reason why this otherwise enjoyable production couldn't have been at least twenty minutes shorter. There are a tonne of scenes with Dre just messing around, meeting characters who will have no real consequence to the rest of the film, mainly to make the youngster look cool, and allow him to stretch his growing comedic muscles. Chan doesn't really turn up until well into the film, and when he does, he's instantly the best thing about it. An old-school fight sequence between the legendary martial artist and a group of bullies is the highlight of an otherwise standard opening forty minutes or so.
Smith is in pretty much every scene, and has thankfully moved on from the annoying ingrate he played in the atrocious The Day the Earth Stood Still. He's a charming little sort, and tackles the fight scenes with admirable aplomb. There are also some touching moments between him and Chan, while Taraji P. Henson is effective but mostly underused. Those in their early teens and younger will love it, but slightly older kids may find it a bit cheesy.

Review by Mike Sheridan