The Karate Kid

Jaden Smith the son of actor Will Smith makes his leading man debut in this remake of a beloved classic.

As mentioned in my introduction this film had really high expectations. The original 'The Karate Kid' is still held in really high regard by people who grew up in the 80's. So to remake this film was pretty dangerous. While I have seen the original, I did not love it as much as everyone else. So my expectations were not very high. I must say then that it was better than I thought it would be. I'm not saying it is great as it has a few flaws but it was not as awful as I was expecting. The main flaw being that it is unnecessarily long. At almost two and a half hours it is about half an hour too long. Scenes seem to take ages and there could have been a lot more editing to make the film shorter and have a quicker pace. The other major flaw is the title. Many have spoken about how the film is called 'The Karate Kid' but he learns kung-fu. I realise that they would want to associate the film as a remake and link it to the original. I'm not sure why they would need to, unless they had to do it that way to stop any litigation. I also think that the fights are quite unnecessarily brutal. For some reason the writers have decided to make Dre's rival part of a kung-fu group who win at all costs and show no mercy. For a film aimed at kids I'm not sure that was a correct decision. It is a bit weird to be watching 12 year-olds trying to beat each other senseless.

I must admit that I'm not a huge fan of Jaden Smith. While his previous films have not been 'happy' film and this one is a drama, but the kid always looks so serious. He hardly ever smiles or shows happiness, even when great things happen to him. I think he so far lacks the charm his father has. It is something he will have to work on and maybe do a comedy. The real reason to see this film, though, is Jackie Chan. His choice of films lately, mostly his American films, have not been all that great. But here he is given the chance to show his acting abilities and not just rely on his awesome fighting skills. There is one scene in the film which I'm sure will be the one to get him awards recognition.

While not the disaster that you may expect, it is a good film but not a great film. Far too long but worth seeing for one of Jackie Chan's best performances.