The Karate Kid

Dang.  Somedays it is so good to remember why I do this.  Like anything, when you make a daily committment it can sometimes turn into a grind.  Art becomes commerce, commerce becomes drudgery, and soon enough you are introducing Sigourney Weaver as the "ball and chain."  If you are unlucky, you burn out.  You either sell out or get cynical.  All this is to say I really needed to see the new "Karate Kid."

I know some complained that it was two long at a 140 minutes.  I know some complained because why remake a perfectly good film.  I know even some folks complained that it was too sentiment, that it didn't just tug at the heart strings but yanked them like Tarzan on a vine.  All true perhaps, but for me....for me it was magic.  I know some folks might laugh at that but it's true.

First off, it's not so much a remake as a completely different version.  Yes it has the same title, and the same general plot, but folks it is completely different.  You think the original karate kid had trouble?  Well he just changed schools from east coast to west coast.   Our young hero Dre, played by Jaden Smith, has gone from america to China.  He can barely fire off a "Hi how are you?" in Chinese, he's black, and you don't think he's going to have some trouble blending in?

A band of young toughs don't like him from the get go, and particularly don't like him getting near the very cute chinese gal with violin.  So they kung fu but good.  Heck, even an old guy beats poor Dre's butt with ping pongs.  He's just not having a good time of it, and really just wants to go home.  That's when Mr. Han the handy man steps in to help him.  Teaching him many things, including kung fu and hanging up your jacket, he trains Dre for the big martial arts tournament.  We know this plot by heart and we can just all sing along, what interesting twists there are I'm not going to spoil here.

Really what makes the film are the two leads.  Jaden Smith if he doesn't go the way of most child actors could someday be a super star.  He's got incredible charisma and a hurt puppy look that even hurt puppies are envious.  He also managed the physical part of his role amazingly, he really did believe that this little kid learned how do some essential butt kicking.  I just really really liked him and empathized with him, even when he was being jerky with his mom at points. 

As for the role of Mr. Han, this is the type of role Jackie Chan needs more of right now.  I'd almost call it a break out roll for him except that he has done more traditionally dramatic roles in some of his hong kong films.  This is the first time though, in america that we've seen the dramatic side of Jackie Chan.  He's a shell of polite distance over a very dark place.  What looks at first to be a sort of grumpiness is actually a daily struggle not to give up, to be a good man.  He needs to train Dre as much as Dre needs training and there is so much chemistry between the two.  As a very physical actor, Jackie is able to use and react with Jaden's body language to really sell the growing bond between Master and student.  It certainly doesn't hurt that Jackie easily takes care of his side of the kung fu.  It must be a fun reversal for him, since in his earlier days he usually played the student told by his teacher to do something seemingly stupid like balancing tea cups on your nose or something. 

The photography is achingly beautiful even when it is in parts of the city that are pretty run down looking.  Wenwen Han definitely would be a girl I would fight in a kung fu tournament for if I was twelve.  The bad kids are maybe not a charismatically, cinematically bad as in the original, but you certainly believe they would kick poor Dre's butt back to Detroit if given half a chance.  Likewise, their Master is not as cartoon scuzzy as Mr. Sweep The Legs from the original but certainly you wish Jackie would stop being a nice guy and elbow his throat or something.

Really just watch this, it's great!  If you aren't moved by scene at the Shi shi festival, well I give up.