On first hearing about a remake of 1984's The Karate Kid - a film I grew up watching and loved I was filled with hostility. Hostility and rage. So I never bothered with it at the cinema.
Then, very slowly I started to hear one good thing after another about it from people. So after seeing it for cheap in Morrison's I decided to take the plunge...
Let's get one thing straight from the outset: this is NOT a remake. It's just a film with a few similar themes in really. It does get a bit reminiscent of the original near the end but for the most part they are two very separate entities (There are several nods to the original - notably a very amusing twist on catching the fly with the chopsticks).
The story concerns Dre Parker (Jaden 'Son Of Will' Smith) who, along with his mother (Taraji P. Henson) have to move to China. Once there Dre has trouble fitting in at school and is bullied by the other kids. Like bullied with kung fu bullied.
Dre befriends apartment building handyman Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) and after he saves Dre during a run-in with the bullies, he starts teaching him kung fu.
That is another big difference in the film. The title Karate Kid is quite pointless as it's actually Kung Fu throughout. That point is actually mentioned in the film, but Karate Kid rolls off the tongue better than Kung Fu Kid with it's alliteration and that.
So Dre winds up in a tournament, falls for a local girl and does loads of cool looking training which all leads up to the big competition.
So here is what I was not expecting - the film is great. Jaden Smith is one of the more likeable child actors at the moment and Jackie Chan is superb. The scene where we discover some of Han's backstory really shows what a great actor he is. Something we rarely get to see.
Another worry I had was the length of it - 2 hours 10 minutes! But it is incredibly well paced - it's almost an hour before we hit any training exercises but it certainly doesn't feel like it.
As it is a Karate Kid film you get all the epic training montages and the big tournament at the end and it's all as exciting and as the original. Something I thought I'd never say!
****
A surpisingly good film. With only a few similarities to the original to speak of this is truly a film that stands on it's own.
2 comments:
I'm shocked - I know how much you hate remakes and was totally expected a one star review, lol. Glad you gave it a chance, though. :)
Yeah, I heard just too many good things about it to leave it, and of course, the fact it's only a remake in name!
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