The Karate Kid
(aka The Kung Fu Kid)
2010; directed by Harald Zwart

There's a sentiment going around nowadays that Hollywood has run out of ideas, as evidenced by the growing number of re-boots and remakes Tinseltown has been putting out. In the same weekend where a new version of The A-Team is hitting the big screen, we're also being given a remake of another Gen-X pop culture lynchpin, The Karate Kid. This time out, Beijing is the setting instead of Los Angeles, Jaden Smith (Will Smith's son) fills in for Ralph Macchio, and Jackie Chan does his own take on Pat Morita's iconic performance.

While this might sound like a recipe for disaster -- after all, this is a movie about kung fu set in China called The Karate Kid -- it's surprisingly good and provides some fun times. Before the irate e-mails start flying, calm down there, angry Gen-X nerds. I'm sure this version probably won't be as highly-regarded down the road as the 1984 original came to be, but it's not raping your childhood, either. It's maybe more of a drunken grope.

The Karate Kid does have its' share of faults, though -- most notably the length. Clocking in at around 140 minutes, the movie is just far too long for its' own good, especially when you consider that in many ways this is a release targeted towards the younger set. In particular, there's a lot of time devoted to a romantic subplot. This really adds nothing to the characters, and slows the movie's momentum down. It's painfully obvious the film-makers wanted to cross-market Jaden as a teeny-bopper heart-throb, and the romantic scenes will probably cause anyone over the age of fifteen to roll their eyes. I would have much rather seen more coverage given to the villains (which include the under-utilized Yu Rong-Guang) than stuff like kids popping and locking on a Dance Dance Revolution machine.

Even with the poorer elements, there's still enough good put out here to make The Karate Kid into an entertaining movie. Even though I normally loathe kid actors, I have to admit that Jaden Smith came off as really likeable. He also does a good job in the action department, handling the fight scenes well, save for a couple of poor-looking CGI-assisted shots during the final bout. In a mostly non-physical role (save for a nice little fight scene towards the beginning of the movie) Jackie Chan puts in some of his better English acting work. Despite whatever you might think about the validity of Jackie appearing in a Hollywood remake, I think we'd all agree that we (as fans of Jackie) would much rather see him in productions like this, rather than stuff like the woeful The Spy Next Door.

RATING: 6.5