...Ah, now I know why I feel slight shame. Jaden Smith, we meet at last...sort of. I don't hate Jaden Smith, but I feel....slightly annoyed that he pretty much got gifted an acting career as a birthday present. I never got that pony I wanted on my birthday.
Anyway, I've never seen the original Karate Kid, so I can't say how well or badly it is in comparison with the original. But I have browsed the Wikipedia and know of the major plot points, so I can compare those. Hopefully.
The premise of both films is that a kid moves to another area, having a single mom, and learns a martial art from a wise old teacher who appears to just be a old man at first. there's several differences, but we'll talk about two right now; the move is from the USA to china, and the kids instead of being teenagers, are all under 14.
Most of the film takes place in china, and I like it. It's pretty cool to see the real places they set the film in, and it gives the main character kid real reasons to be unhappy what with now living in an entirely different culture.
The fact all the kids are under 14...is not to my liking however. I found zero enjoyment watching the kids interact, mainly because the main character was written like an selfish idiot, even for his age.
The acting...well, Jaden smith isn't actually a bad actor, nor anyone else. the problem seemed to me not the actors themselves, but the direction they either took or didn't take their acting prowess.
The shots and cinematography, are good. I really liked it. Jackie Chan was a joy to watch, both in acting and in the fight scenes.
Honestly, the films reverence of the Karate Kid original movie, harms it more then helps. It follows some beats too closely, that if let go would make the film better. the girlfriend parts, was excruciating to watch, to the point that I fast forwarded through those parts. Keeping the bullies and the bullies martial art teacher as psychopathic jerks hurt the film rather then helped. The more the film strayed from the original movie the more I enjoyed it.
Despite this, I find myself giving it 3 out of 5 stars. Why? Well, Jackie chan saved this film from its writing. One thing I have yet to talk about is that in this one, while both mentors have a troubled and tragic past, Jackie Chans character is still troubled and tragic in the present, and not only does the mentorship help the young main character grow as a person, it helps Jackie Chans character grow as well.
Unfortunately I also fully admit I fast forwarded through at least one third of the film. So I have to downgrade it to at least 2.5 stars, if not simply 2 stars. I enjoyed it, but I also skipped a lot of the content of the film.
Anyway, if the film had taken more risks from the original, and instead of a remake was instead a inspired by, I would've liked this film a lot more.
Today is a two review day! Above is another review, but both are kinda short, so I made them both today.
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