Karate Kid (2010)

The Karate Kid story is well-known: a scrawny kid moves with his mother to new city and quickly manages to make an enemy of the local bully and his gang. A martial arts master takes him under his wing, mentoring and training him until the boy competes in the local martial arts competition. Along the way, the boy learns about discipline, self-control, and gains an appreciation for others. The original 1980s version was a great coming-of-age film that I must have watched half a dozen times growing up. As the formula remains the same for the 2010 remake, it was impossible for me not to compare.

The new film definitely has differences. The setting, Beijing and other parts of China (like the Forbidden City and the Great Wall), is completely unlike an LA suburb, bringing a freshness to the story and highlighting racial and language barriers. The martial arts is kung-fu, rather than karate, adding a new level of choreography that makes the original action seem rather lame. After more than two decades we expect the cinematography to be light years better—and of course it was. 

The comparison mostly comes down to the writing, character-development and acting—and here the original definitely holds its own. The acting was fine: twelve-year-old Dre (Jaden Smith) and Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) take the place of Daniel and Mr. Miyagi, and while they are not the same characters, they bring believability to their roles. Jaden (like his dad, Will Smith) brings a self-confidence to his character that contrasts with Daniel's insecure clumsiness; although his fear of the bullies and his apathy toward and dislike of his new home are similar and certainly realistic. Jackie Chan's character has depth, but is not quite as layered as Mr. Miyagi, nor is his acting as nuanced. The bullies themselves seem more reserved (typical Chinese trait?) and demonstrate less individual personality than those in the original film. A marked improvement (we thought) was in the writing for the women of the film, especially the girl. Mei Ying (replacing Ali) doesn't just play the Dre supporter, but has her own goals and pressures, abilities and dreams.

My only real disappointment was in the training sequence. In the original, Mr. Miyagi teaches Daniel karate using a series of labor-intensive chores—painting a fence, sanding a floor, waxing cars—developing strength and muscle memory, as well as teaching Daniel to work hard. To contrast, Dre learns his initial moves in kung-fu by repeating the seemingly pointless task of hanging up his jacket, taking it off and putting it back on, dropping it and picking it back up, ad nauseum. The reasoning is cute and it does teach respect for authority, but it totally underscores a difference in work ethic and maturity between the two films.

Overall, I enjoyed the film, and can recommend it as good, clean fun. Most of its target audience (young boys) will like this one better, and that makes sense, but the original is still worth watching.