The Karate Kid is a remake of the 1984 movie that made a generation (or three) insanely happy for no real reason. It was directed by Harald Zwart and stars Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson and Wenwen Han.

Plot:
Dre (Jaden Smith) moves with his mother (Taraji P. Henson) from the US to China. He’s unhappy about the move, but sees some light at the end of the tunnel when he meets Meiying (Wenwen Han), a really cute girl. Unfortunately, the boys from the evil Kung Fu club don’t take too well to strangers hitting on Chinese girls and beat Dre up. Repeatedly. That is, until the handyman Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) steps in and takes it upon himself to train Dre in Kung Fu.

The movie is not the catastrophe it set out to be. Since it’s not terribly good, either, that’s probably the highest praise you’re going to get for it. It’s a little too long, it could have done with a little more originality, but in the end? It’s pretty okay.

There are a lot of questions that remain. Why was this movie made in the first place? Why not call it simply “Kung Fu Kid” and be done with it*? Why couldn’t Dre’s friend (who disappears without a trace after about five minutes) be a Chinese boy, showing that not all young Chinese boys are xenophobic assholes?

*At least they acknowledge it in the film, when Dre’s mum refers to Kung Fu as Karate and Dre is totally outraged.

But since those are questions we might never get an answer to, let’s focus on the things we do know: The biggest problem that the movie had, aside its essential pointlessness, was its length. I sat inside and I thought, “man, this movie feels loooong.” Then I came out of the cinema, looked at my watch and though, “man, this movie actually was long!” What the hell do you need two and a half hours for to tell this story???

But aside from that, it’s the typical and satisfying underdog story, that’s made especially charming because Jaden Smith is so damn cute (and he will be stunning in another 15 years). And he’s a really talented actor. In fact, his performance was way better than Ralph Macchio‘s in the first film (I’m probably going to generational hell for saying this…).

I didn’t think it was possible, but there can be an actual debate about who was better: Mr. Miyagi or Mr. Han. I thought that the chemistry between Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan was way better. [Also, that production shots slideshow at the end is so totally sweet!] I mean, Mr. Miyagi still wins in my book, but it’s not a landslide.

Summarising: if you got two and a half hours to spend and you don’t feel very motivated, it won’t kill you to watch this film. But it’s not a must-see at all.