The Karate Kid

"No such thing as bad students, only bad teacher".

I expected to really hate this movie. I mean, the original Karate Kid is a great story and I had no problem with it being updated for a new generation, but the fact that they insisted on keeping the word 'karate' in the title despite the film's focus on kung fu just didn't bode well for me. Overall it's a pretty solid film though, it's more or less the same story as the original version of The Karate Kid except for the fact that it's been relocated to China to highlight the kid's fish-out-of-water status.

The element of this film that really surprised me was Jackie Chan as Mr. Han (the Mr. Miyagi substitute). I thought, woah, Chan has become a really good actor! He gives this role part every inch of his legendary experience, and is easily the most engaging aspect of the film. Chan has a rare distinction of being a star in two very different film industries. He's developed a talent for characterisation by using the skills he's picked up from both sides of the Pacific... it's the expressiveness and timing that he developed for Chinese and Hong Kong martial arts cinema, combined with the subtlety demanded from him by western cinema. I especially loved this quote from Mr. Han in the film, as it seemed to sum up what I imagine to be Chan's own personal philosophy:

"Kung fu lives in everything we are doing. It lives in how we pick up jacket, it lives in how we treat people. Everything is kung fu".

Chan pretty much holds up the film. My favourite bit was when all the boys bow to his superior kung fu... it's not a moment that's dwelt on, but it is a much deserved moment for his character that made me want to punch the air. Oddly, Chan plays the role straight for the most of the time, he's less the deadpan comical figure that Mr. Miyagi was in the original and more a tragic father-figure to Jaden Smith's character, but it works for him and keeps the film feeling fresh.

Smith on the other hand is every bit as annoying and cocky as you might expect. I found his dialogue (and delivery of it) to be incredibly grating, he just doesn't seem to have enough humility for the role . Ultimately I think the film just needed someone older... there are scenes where he gets beaten up and, really, it beggars belief for a 12 year old to not be crying after such a pummeling. We're meant to be cheering for this character, but when someone come across as over-confident and proud as Jaden Smith it sort of defeats the purpose of a traditional underdog hero vs. villain narrative. Also, this is meant to be a film that focuses on themes of bullying and self-esteem, but for once I'd like to see a story about bullying that doesn't demonise the bully right from the outset. Bullies have issues too, but we never seem to see this addressed all that often in movies. I guess it's not really the place of a Karate Kid remake to set this imbalance right, but it would be nice to see a less black and white take on the issue of bullying in a mainstream film.

Anyway, all these niggles aside, it's a pretty good re-imagining of the original classic. Just watch it for Jackie Chan, some fun kung fu philosophy, and the cool Chinese location work.

DIRECTOR: Harold Zwart
WRITER/SOURCE: Screenplay by Christopher Murphy, based on the original The Karate Kid written by Robert Mark Kamen.
KEY ACTORS: Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson, Wenwen Han, Zhenwei Wang, Yu Rongguang

RELATED TEXTS:
- The original Karate Kid was a 1984 film starring Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. It was followed by The Karate Kid II, The Karate Kid III and The Next Karate Kid.
- The original Karate Kid was more or less pitched as Rocky for kids, and was even directed by John G. Avildsen, who had directed the original Rocky film.
- Other martial arts tournament films include Redbelt, Blood Sport and Enter the Dragon.