Can it really have been 26 years since we witnessed Daniel-san take on the Cobra Kai and win? Yes unfortunately it has. So what better time than now to take that story and make it something just a little bit different?
THE KARATE KID is not a remake of that classic film starring Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. Instead the film makers have decided to take the thin outline of a plot and turn it into something new, something a bit original. The fights, the teenage love story and the relationship between teacher and student are there, but this film changes enough to make it not the original.
Jaden Smith stars a Dre Parker, a young boy whose mother has just taken a job in Beijing, China. Leaving their home in Detroit for the great unknown, Dre isn’t quite sure how to adapt to his new location at first. Making a friend with another transplanted young boy, Dre eventually goes down to the playground near his house. There he meets Meiying, a young Chinese girl practicing her violin in the park. But before a friendship can begin, another boy who fancies Meiying takes a poke at Dre.
Cheng, the class bully, faces off against Dre and easily takes him down. Using martial arts techniques Dre is unfamiliar with, he is ridiculed in front of his new friend and ends up going home bruised and beaten.
The bullying continues until Dre sees a chance and tosses a bucket of slop water on the bully and his friends. After a chase through the back alleys, they end up near Dre’s home but not close enough for him to get away. Another beating follows but as Cheng is about to punch the fallen Dre one more time he is stopped by Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), the building superintendent.
With more moves than the group of boys can handle, Mr. Han easily disposes of the group. After taking care of Dre, a discussion follows in which Mr. Han states that there are no bad students, just bad teachers. He then suggests that Dre state his case to their teacher and ask for peace. But Dre has already seen their teaching style of no pain, no mercy. When Mr. Han accompanies Dre to the dojo, he learns what the teacher is like and rather than allow Dre to be beaten non-stop, offers to accept a martial arts tournament challenge rather with the school as long as the bullying stops.
So much for the set up. Now it’s up to Han to teach Dre how to defend himself. But Han doesn’t look at kung fu as a way to defeat someone. He looks at it as an art form, a way to insure peace rather than war. And Dre must learn that as well, the heart of the form as well as the moves. The training is slow going and Dre doesn’t recognize that he is even being taught. That changes and he begins to understand better as well as become accomplished in what Han is trying to teach him, eventually preparing him for the final battle.
On this journey of self discovery Dre also finds time to find his first big romance and learn about respect as well. He matures as the story moves forward and comes to realize that winning isn’t the only thing.
With the exception in the change of locale making Dre not just a transplant from one part of the U.S. to another, he faces total change not only in language but in culture as well. He discovers that perhaps he’s not as all that as he thinks he is and changes both physically and mentally.
Jaden Smith does a fine job as young Dre, showing an acting ability that comes from his own talents and not totally from his parents (Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith). His portrayal is believable and well done. Jackie Chan also shines giving a performance that many will be stunned by. Normally the comedic fall guy in most of his films, Chan has a chance at a real dramatic role here with one of the most touching scenes in the film relating to his past.
No, this film is not a remake of the original. It has its own feel, its own pacing and its own style. The film has taken a skeleton of a story and placed muscle and flesh on it. This is not your father’s KARATE KID. It’s a new story for a new generation.
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