This is a remake movie from its legendary Karate Kid 1984, but its not about karate, its more kung-fu since its in China. Starring by Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith. The story is about the kid moves to China. Starting with 12-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) which could’ve been the most popular kid in Detroit, but his mother’s (Taraji P. Henson) latest career move has landed him in China. Dre has a tough time fitting in his with new surroundings – but it’s kind of his own damn fault. The first forty-five minutes of this three-day-long film present Dre as a prick who can’t get a break: he doesn’t pick up after himself, he doesn’t try and learn Chinese, he starts fights and obnoxiously hits on girls and, worst of all, blames his mother for ruining his life.
After a third ass-kicking, maintenance man/kung fu master Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) steps in to school the mini-Fresh Prince in respect. Sadly, any hope Dre will “learn” has been completely lost at that point. It’s up to training montages and discussion of ch’i to prove Dre is all grown up. Gone is “wax on, wax off” replaced by “jacket on, jacket off, hang jacket up,” and temper tantrums by the boatload.
Karate Kid is easily the best work he’s done in years, throwing the audience a lifesaver from the sinking ship captained by rising star Jaden Smith. Watching Chan deliver a quiet, subtle performance that emotionally resonates at a pivotal moment late in the film is something we’ve never seen – and a breath of fresh air. No blooper reel at the end of this movie, folks.
Karate Kid is a snore and giant step backwards for the American perspective on China. Dre doesn’t learn anything about this world, he fights through it. Somehow, after weeks of living in China, the kid never picks up a word of Chinese. How?! Oh, and it may have been smart to call it something other than The Karate Kid, since Jackie Chan explicitly states that they aren’t learning karate.