FOLIO
by Rick Grant
Surprisingly, this remake of the 1984 classic film, The Karate Kid is better than the original. Jaden Smith plays Dre Parker whose mother, Sherry (Taraji P. Henson) accepts a job in China and she and Dre travel 13 hours to the other side of the world.
Dre has a hard time adjusting to life in a strange foreign land. On the basketball court, Dre befriends a cute girl which angers a group of Chinese bullies. Consequently, Dre gets his ass kicked by these trained kung-fu thugs.
Jackie Chan, who has been lobbying to play a serious role, gets his chance as Mr. Han, a lowly maintenance man for the apartment complex where Dre and his mom live. Mr. Han, who lost his family in a car accident, is secretly a kung-fu master and befriends Dre.
Sure, anyone knows where this story is going, but the exotic location inside China, the quality production values, and a stellar cast create an exciting milieu for viewing this remake. Jaden Smith is a truly talented actor who is learning his lessons well and performs the role of Dre with deep insight into the character.
Small for his age, Dre is faced with bigger, tougher bullies who hate foreigners in their country. The also hate the fact that he charmed a musically gifted Chinese girl to hang out with him. So, Dre tries to avoid the bullies but his fear is affecting his school work.
Enter the dragon, so to speak. Master Han takes Dre under his wing and teaches him kung-fu, not to win fights, but to give him confidence. Dre and Han go to the karate school where the master teaches the bullies to show no mercy.
Han convinces the master to agree to have his students leave Dre alone while he trains him for a big tournament where Dre can show off his karate skills. Dre also wants to get revenge on the bullies.
Oh yeah, the big showdown is coming as Dre is put through the wringer with his master teaching him the zen philosophy of kung fu as well as the fight discipline. As Dre progresses, Han takes him to the mountain where kung-fu originated. There Dre sees things that leave him mesmerized. It’s then that he realizes that there is much more to the martial arts than fighting.
Skillfully directed by Harald Zwart, who takes the time to present the wide vistas of China and the Great Wall as backdrops to the story. The original version was directed by John Avidsen, who directed “Rocky.”
Interestingly, there is a striking difference in style and tone between the two filmmakers, who both delivered wildly entertaining films. Zwart’s verison immerses the audience in the culture of China.
The film shows a bustling modern country with horrendous traffic jams and thick ozone pollution and just how many foreigners are living in China, many of whom are Americans.
This film could inspire a new generation of young martial arts enthusiasts which is good news for local karate studios.
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