The Karate Kid (2010)

★★★

Directed by: Harald Zwart

Written by: Christopher Murphey & Robert Mark Kamen

I really would have liked to have seen the original 1984 film before I saw this remake, so I could comment on the similarities and differences and all that jazz, but unfortunately I didn't...

I liked The Karate Kid. It was good to see Jackie Chan do a slightly different role as Mr Han (the equivalent of Mr Miyagi from the original). Chan did of course get to show off his martial art skill, but  it wasn't done in his usual comic style. It was more about the the discipline and commitment required for the art of kung fu. This character was much more serious than the usual light comic roles that Chan does so well. The the scene in which we find out the reason for Mr Han's stern demeanour, required a rather high level of emotionality, that as far as I am aware, hasn't been required for any of Chan's previous roles. And I think he did a really great job of it, and turned it into what was emotionally, a really effective scene.

The other star of this film and the karate kid, was of course little Jaden Smith. While Smith has had a few supporting roles, this was his first lead role. And he did a great job of it, as Dre Parker, a kid out of his comfort zone, trying to find his place in a foreign country. You can tell that Smith must have gone through quite a bit of training to pull off the impressive moves that he does in this film, so good on him for showing such a level of commitment. It's going to fun to watch Smith as he grows up and to see the kinds of roles he goes for and what kind of actor he develops into. He does after all have a pretty great (and just down right cool) role model in his old man, Will Smith.

While like a said, I haven't seen the original, I was still able to pick up on some of the nods that this remake gave to original. In the film's trailer we saw Mr Han supposedly attempting to catch a fly with his chopsticks, only to have him pull out a fly swat, and squish it to the wall. We also see Mr Han waxing his car, a homage to the iconic 'wax on, wax off' scenes from the original.

I should also mention some of the locations they visited, such as the Chinese temples, were just beautiful.