Writer: Goh Wen Xuan

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Watch this if you liked: “The Karate Kid”, “The Pursuit Of Happyness”

China. Land of antiques, ancient landscape scenery, and kung fu. Where in the case of "The Karate Kid", everything looks and feels Chinese, except Jaden Smith. Known as the remake of the 1984 hit of the same name with Pat Morita as the master and Ralph Macchio as the disciple, Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith takes the series to a whole new level with electrifying chemistry!

With the storyline almost the same as the original series, except for a more cultural diverse plot where young Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) moves to China with his mother (Taraji P. Henson) after his father's death. He meets a Chinese girl in school but gets 'whooped in the ass' by jealous kids from the martial arts school. In steps Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), the maintenance man from Dre's neighbourhood, who helps him to sort the problem - compete in the Martial Arts Tournament to end all the butt-kicking sessions for Dre.

Jackie Chan was incredibly good as Dre's kung fu master, with minimal fight scenes (surprised he wasn't doing much stunts!) and far better emotions as the reserved Mr. Han, who can't seem to erase his tragic past involving his family in a car accident. The reviewer was surprised that veteran martial arts actor Yu Rongguang appeared as the evil, merciless martial arts instructor who stops at nothing, including ordering his disciples to break Dre's leg during the match!

Jaden Smith shone in every scene, from doing his own kung fu stunts, to portraying the culture-shocked little boy who couldn't find solace in what he does after moving to China. His passion in doing whatever he believes to seek comfort and confidence was equally strong till you can't help but cheer for 'Xiao Dre' (Little Dre as nicknamed by Mr.Han) during the Martial Arts Tournament! Heck, even watching Jaden Smith acting all cool with the ladies seems like little Will Smith in the making!

"The Karate Kid" is worth every penny of your ticket. Watch it if you love coming-of-age stories with simple yet witty dialogues, emotional fight scenes and Jaden Smith swooning the ladies. Avoid if you think the movie seems too cliche to be remade as a tribute to Pat Morita. Maybe it should be renamed as "The Kung Fu Kid" then?

Cinema Online, 08 June 2010