The Karate Kid (2010) Review

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

The Karate Kid is a sucker for struggling to shake things up. It backfired with their spinoff, The Next Karate Kid, which didn’t have any spirit compared to the original trilogy. Surprisingly, starting from scratch with a remake was the answer to success we didn’t think would work out until much later.


PLOT


The 2010 film follows similar beats of the original film, with a mix of new elements. The story follows 12 year old Dre Parker, who moves from Detroit to Beijing with his widowed mother Sherry thanks to her getting a job transfer at a job factory. He would try fitting when becoming infatuated with young violinist Meiying, but would be quickly bullied by Kung fu prodigy Cheng. Day by day, it would drive the boy so mad that he pleads with his mom to go back to Detroit, only for her to reply they can’t. Trying to stand up for himself, he throws at Cheng and his clique only for them to chase him down and beat him again. Thankfully, Dre is saved by the local maintenance man Mr. Han, who is also skilled in kung fu. He heals him with the Chinese medicine method of fire cupping and goes with him to confront Cheng’s merciless teacher, Master Li who runs the Fighting Dragon Studio. They agree to let Dre have a chance to defend himself by competing in the upcoming Open Kung Fu Tournament and be left alone to train. Mr. Han promises to teach the boy Kung fu, but makes him take his jacket on & off a rack. Originally, he uses it as punishment for being rude to his mom, but actually uses it as a tool to develop muscle memory. After Dre understands the point of the lesson, Mr. Han takes him to a Toist temple to teach him how to focus. After weeks of training, he gives him the day off. Dre takes advantage of it by spending time with Meiying and convincing her to skip school. They spend time at an arcade and enjoy themselves until his parents deem him a bad influence for his intent to have fun. When the boys sees Han again, he sees him drunkenly break down over causing a car crash that killed his wife and son long ago. Hearing this, Dre resolves to train harder and in the process, his mentor returns the favor by helping write & recite an apology to Meiying’s father in mandarin. He would respect it so much that he’d give her daughter his blessing to attend the tournament. On the day of the tournament, Dre would hold his own and beat 4 opponents. When reaching the semifinals, his opponent Liang of Fighting Dragon would get himself disqualified by delivering a crippling blow to his leg. Parker is still able to face Cheng in the finals after Mr. Han gives him the same fire cupping technique to heal his leg sooner. He still gives a good fight to his bully despite the risks. Knowing he won’t give up, Li instructs him like Liang to keep aiming for the leg. He does lose his balance, but he is still able to pull off a snake stance he learned from the Toist temple and do a backwards kick that defeats Cheng and win the whole tournament. As Li would be disappointed of defeat, his peers would express joy of his victory and all students of Fighting Dragon would show respect by bowing to Han and giving Dre the trophy personally.


THOUGHTS


Ironically, I had no idea this was a remake at the time of release because no one in my family told me when they already knew it was a pre existing franchise. I think because I didn’t have that knowledge, I didn’t create any serious expectations and just went in hoping I had a blast. Because I like action and sports drama movies, this fits right into the conversation of classics like the original film. Before the follow up, Karate Kid Legends, would make this entry canonical into the franchise, it really holds well on its own because you don’t have to watch the previous stuff to enjoy what’s done. So in a way, you don’t have to see the previous stuff to understand this. Does it hit the same beats as in familiar moments the og? Yes because it’s common for remakes to try respecting the material, but it’s done in a way that feels respectful. Director Harald Zwart & writer Christopher Murphey are able to get the pacing right to keep me hooked and the editing for every special moment like the training and fighting scenes in between that are all well choreographed. And with a good combo to go with a strong score by James Horner that feels on par to what Bill Conti had done. This fits into the mold in teaching us the importance of self control thanks to a dynamic duo we didn’t think we would enjoy. Are Jaden Smith’s Dre & Jackie Chan’s Han anywhere close to topping the chemistry of Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso & Pat Morita’s Mr. Miyagi? Not really, but that is not a bad thing at all. I still think Dre has enough relatability because who doesn’t relate to feeling alone when so much change happens past our control. He felt such solace with Mr. Han because he was the only one to take a chance on him and wanted him to have the opportunity to grow within. Han went out of his way to help the kid out because he saw his vulnerability and wanted him to gain inner strength that was missing on his end. When Dre sees his own sensei have vulnerability, he realizes he’s not the only one to feel such and had they not shared putting their guards down, lord knows if they ever would get past their inner dilemmas and win the tournament. Han did tell Dre he’s a winner for showing his capabilities without the trophy, but it meant the world for the boy to go all the way because he needed to prove to himself he wasn’t afraid and if he didn’t take advantage of that chance, he still wouldn’t get the content he was seeking. That is why pulling off that final kick solidified clearing the way to have a bright future. While it was great to have a great mentor, it was nice knowing there were others that cared about him. Not enough people are gonna get it, but I think Taraji P Henson made a strong mom out of Sherry because she felt as realistic as it can get. Change is a lot for her too and as an adult, she is able to take it stride. I’m sure it bothers her too that her husband is long gone, but she keeps her head up because her heartbreak she ain’t showing is not gonna change what happened. She won’t be out of line by telling that to her boy, but she is gonna keep trying to teach him to adapt in her own way, even if he didn’t listen to her as much as he did to Mr. Han. That alone makes her a better counterpart compared to Randee Heller’s Lucille. Considering how everything felt like chaos in every direction, it was also nice to see Dre have a good companion who didn’t push him to be different and liked him for who he already was. Enter Wenwen Han who did a good job makes a great counterpart out of Elizabeth Shue’s Ali for portraying Meiying as a girl who was down to earth, but she had an opposites attract situation with the protagonist because she was self organized with/without her parents’ guidance, whereas he was still figuring himself out. So seeing them meet in the middle when Dre apologizes in Mandarin was pretty damn sweet. Of course, Dre’s arc doesn’t truly get started had he not been pushed to the point by a cold bully. Zhenwei Wang was also a strong counterpart to William Zabka’s Johnny Lawrence for playing Cheng as a boy who enjoys being dominant, but has a limit because he did seem to know when he had the upper hand and chose to stop. He is trained to be so vicious thanks to Rongguang Yu making Li a leader too strict for his own good. Ironically, Cheng would share Lawrence’s own maturity that he accepts who is the better man when showing respect to those that beat him. I even respect that they took out the deleted scene of Mr. Han standing up to Li after the tournament in their own duel, but that would’ve repeated the mistake of overshadowing the protagonist like before. Without it, you still feel the relief that a battle of inner demons is over for another special mentor-protege duo. This movie is totally fine on its own, but then there are still a few movies that make me prefer the original. For example, why should we find out Dre’s dad died via growth chart? That is like the worst way to exposit what bothers our protagonist deep down. Also, it feels like the school is small as hell because every turn Dre makes, Cheng is there. They make it too easy to make Dre miserable before Han intervenes. And in all honesty, how else would Dre solve his dilemma if there wasn’t an upcoming tournament? I gotta ask because it’s just as convenient as it was Daniel that there’d be one for him to properly defend himself. Also, why exactly does Han teach Dre at a high rise roof? The temple made sense for him to understand the culture of Kung fu, but that roof does nothing to make the training any different. On top of that, how the hell did Dre not have his skateboard when he was rushing to see Meiying’s audition? It was so pointless to acknowledge that as part of his past and he ain’t even gonna use it. Other than that, this movie is enjoyable when not forcing any expectations. In conclusion, 2010’s The Karate Kid is a remake that deserves its respect for reigniting the missing flare. If you’re still a fan of this franchise, you know I’m right this is worthwhile for any moviegoer.