‘The Karate Kid’: A Worthy Remake?

Directed by: Harald Zwart
Running Time: 140 Minutes
Rated: PG

For many critics, to hear the word remake is usually responded to with a groan of despair, clamors of Hollywood lacking originality and any backbone to push forward new content.  For better or worse, the practice continues (and will be pushed forward at least for the foreseeable future) in Hollywood as exemplified by The Karate Kid, a remake of the original 1984 feature film that became a cult classic.  Harald Zwart’s new interpretation of The Karate Kid, however, is an intriguing case study of a remake.  Although it does fall into some of the common traps, this new retelling is a good film that comes and marks out its own place in history, smartly using its China backdrop and the strength of the actors.

Zwart’s The Karate Kid follows Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) and his mother, Sherry (Taraji Henson) who both are forced to move to China from Detroit after Sherry gets relocated for her job.  Dre does not want to go, as he has to leave his friends and familiar trappings for a completely new foreign land.  His assessment of the situation worsens when he arrives with a language he does not want to learn to bullies that start to harass him everywhere he goes.  A lackadaisical mechanic, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), soon meets Dre as he attempts to learn kung fu.  Unknown to Dre, Mr. Han also is a kung fu master.  The film follows their meetings and adventures as Dre has to learn both kung fu and respect.

The traps that The Karate Kid follow are small aspects that, added together, do seem to weigh the film down a bit.  One is simply some odd plot devices to move the story along, particularly referring to the film’s sense of reality.  A story is allowed to string together any type of plot point in whatever fashion it wants.  However, this stream of consciousness need to be logical and realistic in terms of the story’s rules that it sets for itself throughout its duration.  Simply putting a plot device, ready to be utilized again near the end of the film, is not enough of a convincing reason without proper context.  The Karate Kid does do this, and it did affect the effect of the climax.

Context also affected several other scenes throughout the movie that sometimes tried to be epic and grand yet come off more as cheesy and unnecessary.  It felt as if Zwart was using scenes for the sake of adding them, and for a film that had some pacing issues as well, it would have done better to either trim these parts out or at least give more proper time to make the right transitions, especially since the film understands this when it has done so successfully in other scenes.  This loose pacing also affects some of the other characterizations and therefore, plot devices, that could have been much more complex.  Moments like a possible back-story between the rival kung fu leader and Mr. Han are alluded to but glossed over along with several other characters appearing to be relevant but never really being anything more than story points.

However, Zwart and company do succeed in capturing not only a lot of passion and heart but a surprising overview of China and the modern world itself.  The actors, for one, buoy this film with their strong performances.  Jaden Smith exudes his father’s charm and style throughout The Karate Kid.  Both charismatic and expressive, his youthful demeanor is all but forgotten by the last scene when even the most skeptical of audience members have to acknowledge that he did a great job in the role.  Jackie Chan as well brings a sullen and bitter performance that works to the film’s advantage; a surprising turn compared to most of his work where he uses his physical humor.  It never comes off as overdone and a balance is struck between the tutor and tutee that perhaps should not be compared to the original’s Mr. Miyagi and Daniel, but a relationship that stands by itself in how it is unique and memorable.  Speaking of the original Karate Kid, the various different homage that Zwart makes to the original are funny to fans but never overdone.  They are tactful and smart.  And although many complaints were made about various plot devices, the core progression of the film is pretty standard but done well enough to warrant mention as it never loses track of itself and always feels like a lot of passion and enthusiasm went into it, noticeable through how the film is shot and placed.

One final and important mention goes to the backdrop of the film, China.  There are two sides in how this was filmed that really makes The Karate Kid an intriguing and good film.  One is how China is incorporated into the overall narrative.  It is not just used as scenery.  It embeds itself as an important character into the story of Dre’s overall story arc and the theme of respect, both between Dre to China and vice versa.  The interesting flipside to this is the candidness that Zwart gives to the realities and the modernity of the modern world.  For instance, the historical backdrop of the economic hardships affecting Dre and his mother in Detroit and how it forces them to move to China is not only a clever introduction but effective in serving the modernity of the rest of the film.  Perhaps even more surprising is the surprise in seeing how prevalent communist imagery and effects could be seen about China.  Although never mentioned directly or acknowledged, the fact that these images pervade onto a mainstream movie create an interesting chemistry of, perhaps, a pseudo-documentary overlapping the inspiring fictional core plot.  It seems, intentionally or unintentionally, that Zwart left the images for the international community to think about and grapple with.  Therefore, The Karate Kid becomes more than simply a remake but a modern and politically relevant film for the masses.

The Karate Kid falters a bit in its execution; resorting to odd plot devices and an uneven pace, but it is memorable because of its charismatic, stalwart actors and its surprisingly candid outlook on the context of its plot and China itself.  The remake seems to doubt the strength of its own story at times, yet those missteps do not mask the positive and strong portions of the film that shine and hold the film up.  Perhaps Director Zwart was simply trying to put this remake on par with the original yet has, in reality, crafted a much more original entity that embraces a very modern and relevant context and makes itself into a pseudo, mass-market documentary and dramatic martial arts film.  ‘The Karate Kid’ is a good instance of what remakes should set themselves out to be: more than simply just a re-telling of a story with the same characters and plot mechanics but with a sense of purpose and relevance.

The Wie muses *** ½ out of *****

Ratings:
*****: Excellent
**** to ****½: Great
*** to ***½: Good
** to **½: Mediocre
* to *½: Bad
0 to ½: Terrible

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