It was a good movie in my opinion. There were some strong performances by Jaden and Jackie Chan. I already saw Jaden once back in Pursuit of Happiness, but it's this movie that you really get to see him shine. While I don't consider the performance Oscar worthy, he still plays his role believably. Likewise, it was nice to see Jackie Chan demonstrate some of his more serious acting skills instead of playing his usual slapstick Kung Fu. Acting wise he's not up to the level of Pat Moya's Mr. Miyagi, but in some ways Jackie is better for his role as he actually knows martial arts.

While Jackie and Jaden have some good chemistry together, I don't think it's as strong as Daniel and Miyagi's. Some of this might be more due to the script though. In a scene that mirrors the original where Mr. Hans becomes drunk and falls depressed from a past incident, I don't like how quickly Jaden was able to cheer Mr. Hans up by simply pushing him to train again.

I personally think the plot stuck a bit too close to the original's. The movie would have been better if it gained its own identity instead of mirroring the original's key events too much. Then again, I suppose this is why the movie is known as The Karate Kid (due to the Chinese bully mocking the protagonist as "Karate kid"). If it were called The Kung Fu, the uninformed public would have say the movie was a rip off of The Karate Kid.

Just to note, I think the China setting works rather well for the movie. If the movie took place in present day U.S., it might not have worked too well due to the accessibility of guns. The protagonist would probably snap and end up putting a cap in the bully's ass, which will cause the movie to be known as "The Gangster Kid."

Cinematography for the movie was fantastic. Granted the movie was partially funded by the Chinese government so at times the shots felt like a tourist commercial for China, but nevertheless, many of the shots are beautiful. The best shots were probably in Wudan mountain. Still, the movie just had to use shaky cam during the tournament section. Why?! The fight scenes were very enjoyable to watch up until the end since the camera pulled back enough that you could follow the intricacies of the moment.

Actually I have to say, the fight scenes were surprisingly good. A lot of the strikes are surprisingly brutal (though that's partly due to the fantastic sound effects much like Watchmen) for kids fighting against other kids. Additionally, I like how fast paced the strikes, blocks, parries, etc were compared to most other American martial arts movies. I was disappointed though that Jackie didn't get a fight sequence with the "No mercy" master.

Overall I enjoy the movie. It's not better than the original, but it's still a movie that's very entertaining and one that should be checked out.
7/10

Side note, anyone want a free "Buy 1 get 1 free ticket" Fandango code? I acquired one a long time ago, but since I have no one to go see movies with down here, it will end up being wasted if I don't use it by June 16th.

I recently heard Jaden Smith nicknamed as "Lil' Niglet"

I'll take it! I'll use it to take my girlfriend out to see... THE KARATE KID (based on your recommendation!)

I don't even know what to say.... For starters it should be the kung fu kid... They should of just marketed it as a revision of the karate kid. Flat out calling it karate just breeds ignorance.

I'll wait for this one on Netflix. The trailer just didn't do anything for me. I think it's probably because I hate little kids. I prefer the originals, as corny as they were, because it dealt w/ a teenager becoming a man, etc.

I hate little kids too, Mentat, but I actually still enjoy the film. If it's anything, you'll probably enjoy the scene where Jackie Chan beat up these kids like I did. happydud, I'll PM you the code.

Children getting beat down by [insert person here]? I'm sold.

LOL.

Haha. That's pretty damned funny.

I liked it a lot. I liked the homage it made to the original in little ways (like the 80s-style freeze-frame ending). The evil Chinese teacher was LEGIT A PERFECT CHINESE VERSION OF JOHN KREESE. Holy ****. His hair and mannerisms and even the way he talked.

Some of the "wtf I don't understand what they're saying" moments w/ Jaden Smith at the beginning with random Chinese ppl were funnier to me because I understood what the Chinese ppl were saying. The Chinese dialogue is actually pretty well done and hilarious at prats and I wish they had subtitled all of it (though I "get" why they didn't).

I wish that random white kid at the beginning had a bigger role. Why the heck did he just stand around while Jaden Smith got beat up?

Because he was a ***** and that's why Dre didn't bother befriending him. By the way, I found out Mei Ying's actress was 15. I suspected she was older than Dre considering she looks older the 2008 Chinese gymnastic girls.

I love the trailer of Jackie laying the smack down on kids.

First off, huge thanks to cloud for giving me that code. I probably would have skipped this if he hadn't, and that would have been tragic.

Great movie. I loved most minutes of it. Chan did a great job with a more serious role, but still was able to mix moments of comedy into it. Jaden did a great job too, and I loved the reoccurring jacket thing.

The only things I didn't fully love was the first sparing match between chan and jaden. I thought that was a bit intense for just having figured out that "he knows kung fu." But for the sale if the pace of the movie, I'll forgive it easily. The other thing was the very last kick. As someone who can do that, I know he should have stopped rotating and fallen flat on his face. However, it was pretty awesome.

Final score: 9 dud's out of ten

Glad you like it because there's going to be a sequel. I am a bit peeved that this scene was cut from the final print.



http://imagefrog.net/out.php/i93727_JackieChanKarateKidMovieStill2.jpg

http://imagefrog.net/out.php/i93728_JackieChanKarateKidMovieStill3.jpg

That's hilarious because Miyagi's fight w/ John Kreese was cut from the original Karate Kid too and put in the beginning of Karate Kid II

I was even saying at the end of this movie "man I wish jackie chan had fought the bad teacher ... maybe they'll put it in the sequel like in the original movies"

I bet Will Smith was upset and pulled some strings to get some more screen time for Lil' Niglet.

Do you have an issue with Jaden Smith?