I have to start this review with my kneejerk expectations when I first heard about/saw the trailer etc for this movie. I don’t need to be reminded how great the original Karate Kid is. I love it more every time I see it. I even love its sequels… yes, the Hilary Swank one too. I grew up with them. I know that this remake isn’t for me. But knowing and feeling are separate entities, and what I felt when I first saw the trailer was irked. The “kid” was too young. He wasn’t even doing Karate (to rub it in, in one of the trailers I saw, Jackie Chan tells the boy, “I will teach you real Kung Fu…”!). He was spouting “hilarious” sh*t like “you’re like Yoda, and I’m a Jedi…”

As I often do when I’m watching a movie or thinking about how I’m gonna review a movie, I looked around for what other people are saying, sometimes to refresh or clarify the plot in my mind etc. I saw on the IMDb someone flagged up the misconception that the title is “wrong” because even though Karate isn’t practiced in the movie, it refers to what the bullies call Jaden Smith at the start. I’ll be honest, I missed that line, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and still say, sorry, that’s still no excuse for the title fail.

What the title reflects is what ultimately is the movie’s only problem. It’s a movie clearly designed by a committee, afraid to offend anyone and desperate to please everyone so it stays at number one and shifts Blu-ray units. This means that though the fight scenes are surprisingly brutal (they really are), there’s no blood. It means that, though fairly minimal (a pleasant surprise in itself) we have to get those modern touches like the Star Wars line, the love interest dancing to Lady Gaga’s Poker Face, etc. But all that considered, it’s a miracle it works at all.

There are some admirable nods to the original for fans like me. Most notable is the “new” version of the famous “wax on, wax off” sequence which becomes “jacket on, jacket off” here and, I’ll be honest, works surprisingly well. The Beverly Hills apartments Ralph Macchio and mom stayed at in the original cleverly remain here despite the action being relocated to China, too. Most impressively, Jackie Chan fills the shoes of Pat Morita with the utmost reverence, completely diffusing what I thought might have been the movie’s greatest insult.

Like I said at the start, I didn’t need to be reminded how good the original was… I watch it almost every year, and genuinely believe that that movie deserves even greater stature than the same director’s more celebrated classic Rocky. Still, I’m gonna finish by saying that this remake did make me realise just how great the original was… but not in a bad way. It was only because – despite, like I say, clearly being made by a money machine – it turned out to be pretty amazing itself. It’s a rock solid effort, making up for any lack of heart with serious craftsmanship the likes of which – much as people will try complaining we do – we really don’t see a lot in movies these days. If you don’t have the same background with the original as I do, I imagine you’ll like this one very much indeed.

Tags: cuties, martial arts, remake

This entry was posted on Monday, September 27th, 2010 at 8:49 pm and is filed under 4 hearts, Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.