Whats the worst idea in the world? Trying to put a hat on a bear? Slamming your own tongue in a George Foreman grill? How about this, convincing a studio to spend millions of dollars on a movie youre producing just so your kid can be in it? I imagine a similar train of thought passed through the minds of many a cinema enthusiast when this Will Smith produced project was announced 18 months ago. The very concept of the Hollywood elite setting up their over-privileged offspring with plumb roles is enough to grind the gears of even the most docile of film fans. Even more irritating is that Spawn of Smiths lead debut is actually really good.
It would be unfair to call this a remake in the traditional sense of the word. Remake implies a rehash of old material – i.e. the same setting and same characters, but with different actors, tweaked effects and a more current script. The Karate Kid falls more under the category of reimagining, in that it contains similar themes and content to the original, but with a new spin on character relationships and the overall scenario.
The fact that this set up requires far less suspension of disbelief than its predecessor is a certainly a plus. In the original, Ralph Macchio sure was lucky there happened to be an elderly karate master working in his town; otherwise the movie would have been called Pretty Boy Gets His Face Punched Off. Moving the action almost entirely to Beijing gives proceedings an altogether more organic feel and the idea that everyone and their mum knows how to dish out the pain seems slightly more plausible. Also, the memory of the Americans and the Chinese working together to create art will be nice after the inevitable nuclear conflict of those two nations, when were all fighting each other for the last tin of cat food in a burnt out desert wasteland.
So Jaden Smith has a problem. Hes a street-smart hip-hop kid, raised on the mean streets of Detroit, and lives such a charmed life that he doesnt even hang his coat up (thats more important than it sounds). His dads been killed by a dastardly scriptwriter intent on leaving a nice father-figure shaped hole in his background, and now his mothers job has relocated the both of them to Beijing. Suddenly Detroit is looking like a picnic compared to China and her non-English speaking, noodle-eating, face-punching populace. After a run-in with a cute love interest and her non-too-impressed kung-fu fighting brother (or half-brother, that bit was never properly cleared up), our young hero takes a fairly savage beating, but finds sympathy from a mysterious maintenance man (Jackie Chan) with a deep knowledge of kung-fu, who offers to teach him how to physically and mentally overcome his obstacles.
Smith, for his part is passable. The resemblance between the young actor and his highly accomplished parents is uncanny, with an equal split between Pinkett intensity and Smith attitude. He shows plenty of promise, sinking his teeth into what is essentially a fairly limited character. Jadens comic timing is not quite up to the family legacy quite yet however, and the few scenes of heightened emotion seem a little forced. That said, child actors that can pull that off from the get-go (Jodie Foster, Kirsten Dunst, Haley Joel Osment, Abbie Breslin) dont come along very often and, seeing as hes only just celebrated his 12th birthday, I have no problem cutting the kid some slack.
Its refreshing to see Chan take a detour from his normal kung-fu slapstick routine. Combine this with the highly underrated, straight-to-DVD thriller The Shinjuku Incident, and hopefully this is a sign of the old master trying his hand at something new. Here he provides an anchor for Smiths slightly wild and uneven performance, as the veteran keeping things mellow when things threaten to fly a little far down Youth Street and make the whole thing impenetrable to anyone over 16. Chan also takes the lead in making the chemistry between the two characters work. His Mr Han is never disapproving or doddering, but patient to the point of jadedness, which is an excellent counterpoint to his young protégés rapid fire street smarts.
A strong back-up cast provide a further boost. Taraji P. Henson is as sharp and as solid as youd expect from someone with an Oscar nomination under their belt. Her urban mom puts a brave face on her drastic change of life, while Han Wen Wen is a sweet love interest without ever becoming too sugary and annoying. Special mention however must be made of Zhenwei Wang, whose bullying antagonist Chen is brimful of menace. His glowering stare and penchant for beating the tar out of anyone who looks at him funny make the character as scary a 12-year-old as youre likely to meet outside of Peckham on a Friday night.
Stylistically, the movie sits very comfortably between its 80s origins and a polished 21st century fight-fest. Obvious homages to the past are paid, and eagle eyed and eared fans will notice various nods to the previous movie, both visually and within the dialogue. The story is eminently predictable, but presented with a very definite guilty pleasure vibe to it. Combine that with some genuinely quite brutal fight sequences and youre left with almost the perfect recipe for how to reboot a beloved family franchise. Almost.
This will undoubtedly be mentioned in almost every other review in print or spoken word, but it is such a thorn in the side of an otherwise great film that it very nearly forfeits that fifth star all by itself. The Karate Kid clocks in at two hours and twenty minutes. Thats long. Really damn long. Just to put that in perspective for you, thats 40 minutes longer than Toy Story 3, 30 minutes longer than The A-Team and just short of an hour longer than Shrek 4. Come on people! The primary audience for this movie is the male 9-16 bracket, not a demographic famed for its attention span. Maybe theres some message in here about the patience inherent in Kung-fu, but at some point, patient story-telling turns into over-indulgence. I never thought Id be inwardly yelling at a kids action film to get on with it, but here it is, and frustratingly, its nothing an extra week in the editing suite couldnt have fixed.
Overall, however, the Karate Kid succeeds where other remakes have failed. It embraces its corny 80s roots whilst at the same time injecting a healthy dose of high octane action. Jaden Smith, pushed to front and centre by his fortunate parentage, passes most of tests presented to him, and helped along by a decent script and impressive action, delivers the kind of quality movie experience I suspect a lot of people were secretly hoping he wouldnt.
Overall Verdict: A genuinely pleasant surprise. Although a touch overlong, The Karate Kid provides a slick balance of modern punchy action and retro comedy fun. Ideal for older kids and teenagers and engaging enough to keep adults interested as well. Highly recommended.
Reviewer: Alex Hall