New Karate Kid is Boosted by Leads' Performance

The Karate Kid
Directed by: Harald Zwart
Starring: Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson
Written by: Christopher Murphey

Will Smith, the box office king of Hollywood, has bred a newborn star. Jaden Smith superbly displays his inherited acting talents by showcasing a wide range of emotions: from frustration and anger to sympathy. As a big fan of Jackie Chan, I'm also pleased to see his best screen performance to date in this movie. It's quiet a refreshing experience to not see him performing his trademark death-defying stunts and does his true job as an actor which is to bring dimension to his characters.

Smith stars as an American kid moving to China while Chan stars as his reluctant kung fu master with a traumatic past. I haven't seen the original Karate Kid and so I'm not in the position of making comparisons. I just think that this movie also works well as a travelogue; many of Beijing's (and China's) most famous landmarks make purposeful cameos.

In terms of plot and story, abandon any hopes of twists and surprises; I bet you already know the entire story even without watching the original movie. We can therefore delight on Dre's process of growing from zero to hero. This is the biggest problem I have with this movie. I've seen so many movies with similar plots that when the audience is supposed to cheer for the final fight, I found myself jaded because I've seen the outcome even before the movie started and because it's hard to find pleasure from kids beating up each other.

Although Karate Kid has its moments of comedy, it's lifted from being a clichéd and redundant reboot by it's main actors.

My Rating: 6.5/10