Tough Little Guy

I don’t remember a thing about 1984’s The Karate Kid, other than I would watch it with my grandpa on Saturday afternoons (dubbed, on TV, years after its release), and, of course, that it starred Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita.

What – it was an ’80s offering…that’s my lost decade when it comes to cinema.

And I have to say I wouldn’t have raced to see the Jaden Smith-starring update had it not been for an old friend who asked if I could take him and his nephews to a press screening last week.

There I was, though, sitting through The Karate Kid in a room full of nostalgics and young martial arts enthusiasts, actually enjoying myself as I watched the story of 12-year-old Dre Parker, a kid from Detroit adjusting to a new life in China after his auto industry-working mother (Taraji P. Henson always reliable, even when underwritten) is transferred to the Far East.

No sooner does Dre set foot in his new neck of the woods it becomes evident that he’s the ultimate fish out of water.

The kid doesn’t speak the language, he doesn’t know the ways, and he isn’t keen on the move. No one looks like him, no one sounds like him. He’s the wrong kind of special.

I would say he even has a bit of an attitude about it, but Smith can’t go there – he’s too young to tap into that gravitas effectively, and too focused on not turning Dre into a two-dimensional punk. Not to mention he’s kinda sorta burdened by an ebullience of Smith charisma (he’s Will and Jada’s son, after all). The boy’s going to have a long, healthy career, I tell ya.

But I digress.

To make matters worse, Dre’s caught the eye of a beautiful, violin-playing girl, a classmate named Mei Ying (Han Wen Wen) – and the feeling is mutual. Too bad her family and that of this other kid Cheng are close, which somehow means that this tweenager bully can claim her as his and treat her poorly.

Defending the girl’s honor, Dre gets his handed to him, his pseudo-karate moves shut down, in public, by Cheng.

Humiliated and alone – the kid’s much too proud to run home to mama – Dre eventually meets Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), his building’s maintenance man, who takes him under his tutelage and shows him the art of…kung freakin’ fu.

Why didn’t they call this one, a re-invention of a classic from casting to setting, Kung Fu Kid, I dunno. What I do know is it’s an enjoyable, albeit too long movie – honestly, Hollywood, edit! – that in the end will have you rooting for our boy as he goes from zero to hero, learning a few Important Lessons along the way.

My Rating ***

Photo: Columbia Pictures.