User Reviews

Before people question me, yes I have seen the 1984 film and I like it very much. I was not sure whether I wanted to see this remake. Now I have seen some good remakes like Thief of Baghdad, and some awful ones like Psycho, and I was worried that The Karate Kid would turn out like Psycho or The Wicker Man. Also I saw a lot of hate for The Karate Kid even before it got released, people criticising Jaden Smith and that it would ruin the original.

After seeing it with my family, I actually liked this. It isn't brilliant, but it is much better than people make it out to be on here. The story is very loose and updated with the bully theme still intact along with a love interest, and while it wasn't boring or bad as such it didn't always wow or excite me. I also felt the beginning dragged a bit, but my main flaw is the length, at two-and-a-half hours it was much too long.

However, the pacing overall is snappy and the scripting was credible. The Karate Kid is also assuredly directed, while the score is beautiful, the scenery is absolutely stunning and the kung fu is amazing. And contrary to what others have said the acting wasn't that bad I thought. Jaden Smith surprised me. Admittedly I was worried, I feared he was too small and too young for the role, but he handles the choreography well and actually shows some acting range. Jackie Chan was a surprise too. I do prefer Pat Morita's more wiser and sympathetic Miyagi, but Chan does do some incredible stunts and showed real emotion in the touching scene when he smashes up the car and tells Dre the story of the woman and child. Taraji P.Henson is also credible, Zhenwei Wang is a great Cheng and Wenwen Han was lovely and cute as Meiying.

Overall, for a remake The Karate Kid was not that bad. It isn't brilliant, but it could have been worse. 7/10 Bethany Cox

While it does its best with the source material, and strives to be an engaging, character-focused drama, THE KARATE KID is nothing more than a bland reworking of the original classic that misses the mark on more than one occasion. The first film was all heart; this one's about attitude, and not much else besides.

It's not often I watch a film and cheer on the bad guys, but are the bullies in this film really so bad? In fact, the erstwhile lead, played by the bratty Jaden Smith, seems worse than his adversaries, deliberately provoking them and bringing himself a great deal of pain in the process. Smith fails to garner a moment's sympathy for his character's plight throughout the production, appearing to be a typical spoilt rich kid instead.

Now, the real reason I watched this film was for Jackie Chan, and needless he doesn't disappoint with his mentor role here. Sadly, though, Chan has little to do; his mentor schtick is good, but he's kept in the background for too long and also limited to a single fight scene, where he beats up a gang of children; hardly bathing in glory. I understand that a bout between Chan and screen rival Rongguang Yu was excised from the final print, which is a real shame. Who casts Jackie in a movie and REDUCES his fight scenes? The rest of the film is overlong and overblown, with needless romantic sub-plots that drag the running time down to a snail's pace and all the usual fish-out-of-water nonsense. The fight choreography is poor, too, with the climactic tournament scenes particularly disappointing and dealt with in a perfunctionary way. I'd rather watch the original, or something like Van Damme's BLOODSPORT, again.

Karate Kid, The (2010)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Remake of the 1984 classic has Jaden Smith in the role of Dre, a 11-year-old boy who moves from Detroit to China when his mother (Taraji P. Henson) needs a job. Once there Dre begins to get bullied by some neighborhood kids but Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) agrees to take him under his wing and prepare him for an upcoming tournament where he will face off against the bad kids. I'll start off by saying that this film isn't anything close to the original. That's as far as I will go in comparing the two versions. This 2010 film starts off horribly and I was really shocked at how much I was hating this film for the first hour. I had a lot of problems with the film and most of it dealt with the screenplay. I thought the Dre character was downright annoying and I had a very hard time giving any sympathy to him. I also had a major problem with the role of his mother who certainly should win an award for the dumbest mother of the year. She really, really got on my nerves as she seemed so stupid as she didn't seem to understand why her young son would have issues moving half way across the world even if he wasn't getting picked on. I thought the first half of the film didn't do Mr. Han any favors either as we get a few really bad nods to the original movie and sadly it takes Chan a little bit to warm up to the role. At about the hour mark is when the film expands and it generally gets better throughout the rest of the overly-long 140-minute running time. I thought the highlight of the movie were the terrific scenes in China where we get some amazing visuals that are perfectly captured in the 2.40:1 widescreen picture. These visuals are certainly the highlight of the film as the vivid colors just jump right off the screen. Another major plus are the actual fight scenes that are well shot and I'd say they contain some pretty good drama. As I said earlier, Chan has a hard time warming into the role but once the training start it seems that the actor gets everything together and delivers a fine performance. We get to see Chan with a bit more drama than normal and I thought he handled it well. Henson does what she can with the role of the mother but the screenplay doesn't do her any justice. Smith, on the other hand, just isn't an actor....yet. Perhaps he'll grow into something special but as of yet I haven't been impressed with anything he's done and if you take away his famous last name then there's no doubt in my mind that he wouldn't be getting top billing in anything. He just doesn't have the dramatic range that the character needs and even the scenes where he gets angry just made me laugh because the actor couldn't pull it off. As you can tell, there's a lot of good and a lot of bad in this 2010 version of THE KARATE KID. I'm sure many young kids might identify with the character but as an adult I had a very hard time getting into the picture due to the rather weak screenplay. This isn't a totally worthless film but it's too bad more couldn't have been done with it.

Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) is leaving his friends in Detroit behind as he follows his mother Sherry (Taraji P. Henson) to Beijing. Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) is the maintenance man in their building. Dre falls for classmate Mei Ying but it's a problem for the class bully Cheng who starts picking on her. He comes to the rescue only to be beaten down. Then it's non-stop bullying from Cheng and his friends. After Dre plays a prank, the kids chase him down and Mr. Han rescues him. It turns out that Mr. Han is secretly a kung fu master.

Jaden Smith comes off as a bratty kid and Taraji as a nagging mom. Normally I try not to be too hard on child actors, but the movie is putting him out there as the lead. The kid lacks the charisma of his father which is sorely needed because the character is such an annoying brash brat. He's all talk and such a boy stereotype. I like some the sly comedy. It opens up with Jackie Chan and a fun recall to the original. I like him as the new mentor but I really can't stand the kid. A lot of it has to be the character. It really wouldn't hurt the movie if he picked up his jacket from the very start. It serves no purpose for him to be a brat. It would be so much better that if he holds a deeper inner anger than an outwardly brashness. The mother nags too much which gets annoying after awhile. I really like the girl who isn't just a simplistic girlfriend character. The bully is very one dimensional. While I like Jackie Chan's attempt at humor, I didn't like his first fight in the movie to be against a bunch of kids.

And I had to put it in the summary just to make sure, you are not appalled by the movie after the first "contact" with the martial arts at hand. Why they named it Karate Kid? Obviously because it is a Remake. But why not use Karate then? I guess Kung Fu is more aggressive whereas Karate is more a form of defending yourself. Both have a philosophy you can wrap your head around though.

And just to say that too;' I'm not an expert in Martial Arts (anything but), just did a bit of Karate training as a teenager. But pulling Jackie Chan into the movie, who revealed in interviews, that when he first got offered the movie, thought he'd play the Karate Kid, was a major stunt. Though Jackie was kidding of course, I do believe him that he still feels much like a child. He has the passion and everything that moves him into making movies.

And I have to admit that I thought Jayden actually did a pretty decent job here. I smashed his "performance" in the "Day the Earth stood still" Remake, but here he is very naturally. Maybe that is because it is closer to his real persona or maybe he does have a future in front of him, who knows. On the other hand, I'm aware that quite a few people hate him in this one too. It will be pretty clear from the first few minutes in what direction your feelings go.

I haven't seen the Original Karate Kid in quite a few years, so I can't compare and/or say how much better or worse either movie is. Nostalgia would make me say, that the Original is better, but everyone has their own memories of the movie (if they've seen it), so it's up to you to decide, if you want to jeopardize that memory (if there is one to jeopardize ... if not, read a few more reviews to decide which movie, you wanna watch first).

Here is introduced a new kid , Jaden Smith, with the veteran coacher Jackie Chan . This is an entertaining martial arts movie with the intimate Jackie Chan but the show belongs to Jaden Smith . The story deals with a troublesome 12-year-old young boy named Dre Parker (Jaden Smith), thanks to Mr. Ham (Jackie Chan) he aware that Kung Fu is his salvation, as he fights an evil nemesis , facing down a violent young group trained by an expert and violent trainer . Dre Parker could've been the most popular kid in Detroit , but his mother's (Taraji P. Henson) latest career move has landed him in China . Meanwhile , he befriends a youngster Chinese girl and immediately falls for his classmate Mei Ying (Wenwen Han) - and the feeling is mutual - but cultural differences make such a love story impossible . Even worse, Dre's feelings make an enemy of the class bully , Cheng . In the land of Kung Fu, Dre knows only a little karate, and Cheng puts "the karate kid" on the floor with ease. With no friends in a strange land , Dre has nowhere to turn but maintenance man Mr. Han, Dre realizes that facing off the bullies will be the battle of his life . The Chinese Ham who holds a terrible secret teaches him martial arts and combat at a Zen temple and trains on the China wall .

This enjoyable movie , a sort of junior version of 'Rocky', develops a sincere and deep friendship among two protagonists, the rockie young boy and the wise old man . Using more than his fists, Dee Parker/Jaden Smith learns about himself and the sense of life . As Han , who is secretly a master of Kung Fu , teaches Dre that Kung Fu is not about punches and parries , but maturity and calm . Agreeable and likable acting by two main actors, Chan and Smith , along with Taraji P Henson playing his understanding mummy and the sympathetic Chinese girl performed by Wen Han . The US title for this movie was kept as "The Karate Kid" , to maintain the connection to the earlier films it is loosely based on , even though this story takes place in China and the martial arts used are forms of Kung Fu . The picture contains adequate cinematography by Roger Pratt and long-standing score by James Horner. This feel-good message picture is professionally directed by Harald Zwart .

The three previous films, all produced by Jerry Weintraub and directed by John G Avildsen , are the following : original Karate Kid I (1984) in which are presented the classic characters ,Karate Kid II(1986) where the protagonists travel to Okinawa, Part III (1989) where Daniel again battling nasties enemies ; and subsequently The ¨ new Karate Kid¨ by Christopher Cain with Hilary Swank and again Pat Morita . This recent version ¨Kung Fu kid¨is a good remake that will appeal to Jackie Chan fans . Rating : Acceptable and passable following , worthwhile seeing . This heartwarming picture will appeal to Karate Kid trilogy fans.

Hand on heart, then I watched this movie solely for the fact that Jackie Chan was in it.

You might like this 2010 version of "The Karate Kid" if you haven't seen the original movie. But for me, then this movie was unnecessary. It shouldn't have been title "The Karate Kid". Change the storyline and call it something else entirely. There are certain things you shouldn't meddle with, and remaking old classic movies is one such thing.

Now what was good about this remake was the fact that it took place in China, so it made the whole concept a bit more believable than what was actually the case in the original "Karate Kid" movie. And also there was a heap of really nice images in the movie, that really caught the spirit of China and Chinese culture. That worked really well in favor for the movie.

As for the acting, well I thought most actually did a good job. I am a fan of Jackie Chan, but I found this movie (a long with "The Spy Next Door") to be a notch down in his usual performances. And what was up with the expression constantly on the face of the "bad" kid, the one who had the grudge against Dre? He looked like he was constantly fighting off a bad constipation. As for Jaden Smith's performance, well truth be told, that was not in my liking at all. Sure his acting was adequate, but his Kung Fu? Not so much alright.

One thing that really should have been cut from the movie was the scene where Dre and Meiying was at the arcade and dancing! What was up with that? First of all, they weren't even looking at the screen of the game to see what plates to put their feet on (as you usually need to do in such games), and secondly I think a girl of that age was WAY too young to be showing off a dance of that nature. What the... That would even have put Britney Spears to shame. That was utter nonsense and such a crack in the movie.

Of course, even if you are familiar with the original "Karate Kid" movie or not, you knew the outcome of the movie a mile away. It is so obvious in these types of movies. And it was quite amazing that a newcomer to China learn Kung Fu in such a short time, and amazingly enough manages to defeat another child who most likely had been practicing Kung Fu since he was able to walk. That part really doesn't go well with me. It is just too much over the top.

You might like a movie of this if you are a young boy and if you like action Kung Fu movies with a super sassy storyline. But for a grown up and people having seen the original movie, this movie should not be taken seriously. It is a lame attempt at breathing life back into a classic movie, and the result, well it was not all that great.

I have seen it now, and can honestly say that I will not be watching it again, not even Jackie Chan could manage to save this movie.

I saw the original The Karate Kid at the cinema when it first came out and it's been a firm favourite of mine ever since (I even managed to meet the real Mr Miyagi, Pat Morita, shortly before he died), so when I heard that a remake was in the works, featuring KUNG FU legend Jackie Chan and Will Smith's kid, I feared the worst. They were bound to screw this one up...

Having just watched the remake, I can safely say that the original remains the superior film (nostalgia clouding my judgement? Impartial little old moi?) but stand on one leg and kick me in the head if I didn't actually enjoy Harald Zwart's version more than just a little bit. Jackie's Mr Han is certainly no Miyagi, but he can still kick ass when needed and Jaden Smith gives a convincing performance as the little runt taught that the secret to martial arts success is to practise taking your jacket on and off (he does a mean splits too!)—the pair have great chemistry on screen and together they do an admirable job in bringing the story to a new audience.

Yes, as unlikely as it might seem, The Karate Kid 2010 delivers the goods in most departments: the characters are likable, the cinematography is great, there's a great montage sequence (if there hadn't been, I would have complained) and a funny in-joke with Chan looking like he's about to catch a fly with his chopsticks before squishing it with a fly-swat, and the final tournament is a lot of fun (ridiculous, formulaic, crowd pleasing Hollywood fluff, perhaps, but still very entertaining).

I still don't understand why they had to change Karate to Kung Fu, the setting to China, and Italian American teen Daniel into an African American twelve year old, but I'm glad that in doing so, they didn't make a complete hash of proceedings.

While it's been a bit more than 25 years since I saw The original Karate Kid in its entirety, I recognized many similarities between that and the remake I just watched such as the tragic secret Mr. Han reveals while drunk or the injuries suffered by Dre during the climatic tournament. There were also some noticeable differences-other than the setting and the age of the protagonist-like the way Dre and Mei Ying were temporarily kept apart compared to what happened to Daniel and Ali in the original. Since it's been so long having watched the '84 version, I really can't make direct comparisons. All I can say is that I really liked this reimagining of that previous hit enough to once again get totally involved in the story, the characters, and overall atmosphere of the movie especially the Chinese location shots. I felt there was great chemistry between young Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, not to mention between Smith and Taraji P. Henson as his mother, and that of him and Wenwen Han as his initial crush Mei Ying who becomes his girlfriend. Add in the direction by Harold Zwart and the score by James Horner and this version of The Karate Kid (though I agree that it should have been called The Kung Fu Kid) seemed just as compelling to watch as that original I saw so long ago.

This film is about an American child who has adjustment problems after moving to China. His life changes for the better after discovering an unlikely kung-fu master.

There are things to like about "The Karate Kid". It shows a story to a kid who climbs to the top through hard work and patience. The scenery of both urban and rural China is nice. It is particularly refreshing to see China portrayed in positive light in American movies.

I know I should like this film but I don't. I find the film too long and tedious. Kung-fu lessons haven't even started after one hour of screen time, which feels like eternity. The pacing is far too slow, as it takes 110 minutes of build up for the final 20 minutes. Another thing that bugs me is the obvious misnomer of the title, as the film is not even about karate, which is a Japanese martial art.

The Karate Kid remake is missing all the good things that made the original so timeless, there is no chemistry and no heart. The plot is pretty hard to mess up, so at least they left that alone. The action coordination is good and a few beautifully shot scenes. Too darn long though.

Really good for a remake. I reckon Jackie Chan would beat Mr Miagi in a fight too

One can suppose the tremendous love Jaden Smith gets from his parents Will and Jada Pinkett, who probably decided that it makes good sense for their son to learn some form of self-defense, so why not learn from one of the best available, and make a film out of it? I'm wildly speculating here on how this remake of the 1984 film of the same name came about, one which made the fictional Crane Technique famous, and launching Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita to instant fame, especially so for the latter.

Serving as producers, the Smith's version of The Karate Kid had Karate as a misnomer, since it's Kung Fu that got featured, although they did place the emphasis on Kid, with their son Jaden being the star of the show, very much younger than how Ralph Macchio turned out to be in his role as Daniel Larusso in the original. And the truth is that Jaden's ability here in the lead role coming off films like The Pursuit of Happiness and The Day the Earth Stood Still, is one of the highlights in ensuring you get sucked into his world of the new out of towner American boy from Detroit now finding himself in a new environment in Beijing, and rubbing off the playground bullies on the wrong foot.

Which provides the path to Karate Kid formula, where boy gets a good wallop from his peers, eventually saved by the maintenance man who knows a thing or two about martial arts, becoming a disciple and learning new skills, then entering a contest so that a fair fight can be featured at the finale. And what makes martial arts training more fun, is the East meets West clash of cultures that provide some avenue for light hearted moments, yet balanced with some serious drama when dealing with themes like a disgraced past, or explaining the hocus pocus mysticism behind the martial arts, which took on a somewhat greater proportion here.

Some moments of the formula did get an update to suit the different time and premise, especially with the Miyagi aspects paying homage to what Pat Morita had done, with things like the chopsticks and the fly, with a different outcome of course. Even the Crane Technique got a little makeover as well, though this version ran on for a little bit longer, and its finale fight really put you on the edge of your seat with excellent action choreography, though it must be said it's really fictional and at times unbelievable, since the fights were really bone crunching and hard hitting, but nary a scratch or severe injury gets inflicted barring what's necessary as formula. Since the combatants here are sparring sans protective gear, parents may want to warn their kids, who turn up in droves for the film, that there's a degree of artistic license taken here in the bouts, and no you can't kick a guy across the floor without breaking some ribs for instance.

What I found more interesting here, is the role that Jackie Chan plays as Mr Han. While no Mr Miyagi spouting words of profound wisdom, you can tell that as Mr Han, Jackie Chan tries hard to not goof around much, and becomes pretty serious in his role. It's somewhat a full circle for JC, after all, he burst into the scene playing exactly the role of "the Kid", being trained in a rote like manner similar to waxing on and off, or jacket on and off. In films like Snake in the Eagle's Shadow or Drunken Master, he's on the opposite side of the equation with Yuen Siu Tien playing his master, and with this film, takes on the master's role and training Jaden's Dre Parker in similar fashion. If I can ask JC a question, it'll definitely be to find out how he felt like having to mature into a stage where he's no longer the vengeful student, but the wise, sage like master.

Clocking almost 2.5 hours, the film got bogged down by the innocent romance between Dre and Meiying (Han Wenwen) that took up significant screen time to try and provide a little more dimension to Dre, as well as to explore themes like never giving up, and friendship. The other kid in the film, Wang Zhenwei who plays Dre's nemesis Cheng, has enough of that mean streak look to stay as that one-dimensional boogeyman that Dre has to overcome, influenced by the evil Master Li (Yu Rongguang) whose mantra is to be merciless, and never to bat an eyelid when called upon to violate the spirit of fair play.

Like the original film, the magic of the appeal lies very much in the pairing and chemistry shared between teacher and student. Here, Jackie Chan turns on his acting chops more so than to run around showcasing his acrobatic ability, leaving the slick moves to a buffed and trained Jaden Smith, who demonstrated that he's more than just a cute boy with braided hair, and possessed tremendous charisma that you can't help but to root for the little fella, who's blessed with nifty dance footwork, movie star looks from his parents and now, enough skills to inflict serious injury. A subtle tone on the surrogate father and son relationship gets hinted at, with director Harald Zwart not wanting to explore this a little deeper, going instead for a number of tourist-like shots of Beijing in a not-too-subtle effort to showcase the city.

The Karate Kid spawned a few sequels, one even featuring Hilary Swank before she kicked more butt in Million Dollar Baby. I'm betting on this film being the forerunner to this week's box office results, but a sequel may seem out of the question, since we know just how fast kids at Jaden Smith's age will develop and mature.

The Karate Kid is a Sino-American Rocky starring the Will Smith family scion, Jaden. He goes to China with his mom, gets beaten up by bad Chinese kids, prepares to revenge in a tournament, and falls in love.

Meanwhile, the underused Jacky Chan plays a maintenance man teaching Jaden to fight. Jaden shows no exceptional talent, and there's little of the philosophy that makes a sentimental piece like this bearable.

Karate Kid is family entertainment trying to show the importance of charity, goals, open-mindedness, and resilience. Unfortunately a slow exposition keeps the film from a fast summer pace.

Those who compare this version to the original may be disappointed, and those who are interested in Chinese American relations may find it problematic.

'The Karate Kid' is entertainment. A remake of the 1984 martial arts film of the same name, comes a film that provides some kick-ass stuff in a running time over 130-minutes. Harald Zwart's direction is perfect, he makes a good remake, though one expected it to be a poor cousin.

'The Karate Kid' has smart-ass Jaden Smith at his best. A complete star, doing stuff that sometimes even elders falter in. Plus, one gets to see the legendary Jackie Chan in a first-ever serious role. And boy, Chan excels from start to end. The Actor in the legend has finally been awaken. He is the soul of the film! Taraji P. Henson also puts up a superb act as Jaden's loving mommy.

The stunts are spectacular. The climax, which is almost 30 minutes long, is the highpoint of the film. It's fantastic and jaw-droopingly picturized.

'The Karate Kid' is entertainment... which definitely deserves a watch. Also, it gives birth to 2 new talents, Jaden Smith and the Actor Jackie Chan.

For those of you who don't know: Karate is not Kung Fu nor is Kung Fu like Karate. What they share in common is that both are Asian practices & disciplines that can help you to defend yourself but are 2 different schools of martial arts completely. Kung Fu is Chinese. Karate is Japanese. The film is set in China and the kid is learning Kung Fu (Taekwondo in this case) so in reality this is NOT a Karate Kid.

Outside of nitpicking martial arts - the film is just okay. The biggest problem with the film is there is ZERO chemistry between any of the characters. This is a very pale version in vein of the original Karate Kid - different characters and such in the films so this is not suppose to be a remake of the original but it's on film.

Anyway, I wasn't crazy about this movie but I did manage to watch it and found it just okay.

5/10.

i enjoyed this remake of the 1984 original.it's a bit more fleshed out than the original,although it may be a bit too long.this one's actually about Kungfu,not Karate,and it shows the definite differences between the two disciplines.Jackie Chan plays the handy man role made famous by Pat Morita in the original.Jaden Smith(Son of Will and Jada Pinket Smith)plays the role made famous by Ralph Machio.i'd say this movie compares favourably to the original in all aspects except one:it doesn't quite have the same crowd pleasing intensity.at least i didn't feel it.still,it's well acted and well directed and looks good.for me,The Karate Kid is a 7/10