The Karate Kid (2010)

When a 12-year-old from Detroit moves to China with his mother and incurs the wrath of the class bully at his new school, he makes an unlikely ally in the form of his aging maintenance man, a kung fu master who teaches him the secrets to self-defense. U on arriving at his new school, Dre !arker "#aden $mith% develo s a owerful crush on retty classmate &ei 'ing. (he feeling is mutual, although the cultural divide between Dre and &ei 'ing makes a friendshi unlikely, and romance im ossible. When cruel classmate and kung fu rodigy Cheng learns of Dre)s feelings for &ei 'ing, he harasses and humiliates the young outsider in front of the entire school. With no one to turn to for hel , Dre confides his fears in kindly maintenance man &r. *an "#ackie Chan%, a kung fu master who knows that serenity and maturity -- not unches and ower -- are the true keys to mastering the martial arts. +s Dre re ares to face down his intimidating tormentor, he begins to reali,e that the real fight is -ust beginning. . #ason /uchanan, 0ovi !1, 2 hr. 22 min. Drama, +ction 3 +dventure, 4ids 3 5amily Directed /y6 *arald 7wart Written /y6 Christo her &ur hey 8n (heaters6 #un 11, 2212 Wide 9n D:D6 9ct ;, 2212 U$ /o< 9ffice6=1>?.?& $ony !ictures
http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/the-karate-kid-2010 The Karate Kid review - Theres no karate, its set in China and theyve renamed r iya!i. "h, well: at least the kid really is one # 11-year-old $aden %mith deservin! that ta! more than 22-year-old &alph acchio did in the 1'() ori!inal. *t first !lance, that may not +e eno,!h for readers with fond memories of the $ohn - *vildsen version, a .,nior &ocky that had +o/-office tills ker-chin!in!. 0,t its soon clear that any chan!es are p,rely cosmetic. %ettin! and martial art aside, the new 1id follows its predecessor to the letter. &el,ctantly relocated from 2etroit to 0ei.in! so his mother 3Tara.i 4 5enson6 can take ,p a .o+ opport,nity, 12-year-old 2re 4arker 3%mith6 wo,ld have tro,+le fittin! in even if he didnt fall fo,l of his new schools +,llies within ho,rs of to,chin!

down. 5ead hoodl,m Chen! 37henwei 8an!6 is no ordinary +,lly either, +,t the star p,pil at a militant k,n! f, academy. 5es also annoyed 2re has +een makin! eyes at pretty st,dent violinist ei 9in! 38enwen 5an6 # motive eno,!h to !ive this interloper a royal play!ro,nd ass-kickin!. :,ckily 2re has a 9oda ,p his sleeve in r 5an 3$ackie Chan6, a +,ildin! s,perintendent and k,n! f, !,r, who teaches him how to hold his own at a climactic w,sh, to,rnament. 9o, know what follows: a wa/ on, wa/ off e/ercise to instill m,scle memory, n,mero,s trainin! monta!es and !nomic words of wisdom, delivered with so,lf,l sincerity +y Chan. *ll of which +e!s the ;,estion why 5arald 7warts leis,rely reprise r,ns at two ho,rs and 20 min,tes. <or the answer, look no f,rther than the pict,res;,e deto,rs to the <or+idden City, the -reat 8all and a remote mo,ntain temple, scenic em+ellishments yo, s,spect are intended to promote Chinese to,rism. Theres also a mawkish interl,de in which we discover why Chan is in s,ch a sha++y f,nk # time that mi!ht have +een +etter spent !ivin! the chop-socky veteran more action than the solitary scrap he partakes in. =nstead its $aden who really !ets to str,t his st,ff in short, sharp fi!ht scenes. %ome of the moves are a +it too smooth to convince !iven the com+atants yo,th, +,t %miths lim+er likea+ility keeps thin!s !ro,nded. Clearly a chip off the old +lock, his easy screen presence and chemistry with Chan ens,re that yo, root for the ,nderdo! and will him to prevail all the way to the final smackdown. 8hich, after all, is the whole point of The 1arate 1id.

http://www.cinema+lend.com/reviews/The-1arate-1id-2010-)>)'.html

Distributor: Columbia !ictures Release Date: #une 11, 2212 Starring: #ackie Chan, #aden $mith, (ara-i !. *enson

Directed by: *arald 7wart Produced by: #ames @assiter, Will $mith, #erry Weintraub Written by: $teve Conrad (he fact of the matter is it)s been 2? years since the first Karate Kid, and given how many other movies have relied on the e<act same formula, a full-fledged remake is retty fair game. /y moving things to China and casting 11-year-old #aden $mith "as o osed to the 2;-year-old 0al h &acchio of the original%, $ony successfully ut a fresh coat of aint on the rickety old story, and des ite a gargantuan running time and a er-thin characters, it)s kind of nice to see yet another kid learn the crane ose. 8t)s hard to know who to credit or blame for the film, since director *arald 7wart was brought in well after things were in develo ment, and the film)s likely true authors, Will $mith and the Chinese government that authori,ed the on-location roduction, are entirely offscreen. /ut even though The Karate Kid is a aint-by-numbers remake that e<ists so $mith can make his kid a star and China can romote itself to the West, it)s also e<ce tionally well shot, freAuently funny and touching, and erha s most im ortantly, a vehicle for a great #ackie Chan erformance. 8t)s not Auite enough to -ustify a two and a half length, but it comes close. +s for the lot, imagine the original Karate Kid with a few language barriers tossed in. Dre "#aden $mith% and his mom "(ara-i !. *enson% leave Detroit for brighter -ob ros ects in /ei-ing, where Dre Auickly tussles with the local grou of thugs who also ha en to be kung fu masters. Dre starts u a showy flirtation with &eiying "Wenwen *an%, who)s s oken for by head baddie Cheng "7henwei Wang%, and soon he)s hiding from these kids every day after school. 8n the middle of one articularly mean fight Dre is rescued by his a artment building)s reclusive handyman &r. *an "#ackie Chan%, who reluctantly agrees to teach Dre kung fu but only after taking the arrogant tween down a eg or two. @essons are learned, oses are struck, a friendshi begins to blossom-- cue the training montage. 8t actually takes nearly an hour for the training montage to show u , thanks to The Karate Kid)s glacial ace and greater interest in /ei-ing scenery than creating believable characters and letting us s end time with them. #ust when Dre)s training with &r. *an icks u narrative steam, we)re stuck watching Dre)s baby romance with &eiying and constant shots of /ei-ing landmarks, so much that you can almost hear Chinese officials saying B8nclude thatC 8t looks great on the ostcardsCB Cinematogra her 0oger !ratt ca tures the city and the surrounding countryside beautifully, but recious little of it serves the film)s rote story. We get a great sense of /ei-ing scenery, sure, but none of how it im acts Dre and his mom, who e< erience so little actual culture clash they may as well be in D cot. 8t)s truly fascinating to watch snotty and rambunctious Dre transform into a confident warrior, and the charismatic $mith and e< ert Chan build a believably tender and touching surrogate father-son relationshi . Unfortunately all of the other characters fall a little flat, from the villainous rival kung fu instructor who glowers like a Mortal Kombat baddie to the retty and blank &eiying and even Dre)s mom, who layed by 9scar-nominee *enson feels more like a lot device than an actual human. Direct 7wart does well handling the violence of the fight scenes and the emotional bond between Dre and &r. *an, but everything else falls victim to his

e< erience with broad children)s comedies like Agent Cody Banks. (here)s a lot to swallow with this new Karate Kid-- you have to acce t that rivileged child of *ollywood #aden $mith is now a movie star, that a remake of a beloved E2s classic isn)t automatically a travesty, and that about an hour and a half)s worth of good material within a two and a half hour running time is a reasonable ratio. 8n any other summer, it might not be worth the tri , but summer 2212 is roving to be unusually dismal, and at this oint there are worse things than sitting in the air conditioning, marveling at some beautiful cinematogra hy and e<cellent fight choreogra hy, and witnessing the acting rebirth of #ackie Chan. 0eviewed /y6 4atey 0ich