Movie Review: The Karate Kid
Friday, June 18, 2010 @ 6:35 PM | 0 comment(s)

12-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) could have been the most popular kid in Detroit, but his mother’s (Taraji P. Henson) career takes them both to China. Dre has a hard time making friends at first but he does make a connection with his classmate Mei Ying—and the feeling is mutual—until cultural differences make such a friendship impossible. Even worse, Dre makes an enemy of the class bully, Cheng. Dre knows only a little karate, and in the land of kung fu, Cheng puts “the karate kid” on the floor with ease. Feeling alone in a foreign land, Dre has no friends to turn to except the maintenance man, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan). Secretly a master of kung fu, Mr. Han and Dre begin to train together, building a friendship and moving toward a final showdown with Cheng at a kung fu tournament. As Han teaches Dre that kung fu is not about punches and parries, but maturity and calm, Dre learns that facing down the bullies will be the fight of his life.



I had the chance to finally see this movie. My friends told me to just download it on Bit Torrent blah blah, but movies like this should be watched in the big screen, right? Thanks to my cousin and my nieces, I was able to visit the cinemas again (and for choosing Karate Kid over I'll Be There!).

Karate Kid is a movie that tells us not to give up and never say never (as what the song says). It inspires us to work hard for the things that we would want to have, to never be afraid, and to fight for what we believe is our right. And, that Kung Fu is in everything that we do, like picking up our jacket and putting it on the rack.

Jaden Smith stole my heart once again (the first was in the movie The Pursuit of HappYness with his big daddy Will Smith). Their movie made me cry my eyes out, so I knew from the start that Jaden will do well again. And I was not disappointed; he did great! Everything about this movie made me laugh and drop my jaw. The settings, the casts, the Kung Fu moves, the Chinese culture – thumbs up! I had my I-feel-bored episodes though. It happened during that “put on your jacket on, take it off” routines. Like, it was pointless, but actually it wasn’t. The writer is genius. I never thought of that. Maybe the old ones knew about it, because of the old version of Karate Kid, where the protagonist was obliged to clean the wall every day. The “attitude” scene was also very funny. Jaden was adorable, and Jackie Chan... well, he’s Jackie Chan – a legend.

Over all, it was great movie; definitely worth the penny. Highly recommended!


Dre Parker: You don’t know the rules?
Mr. Han: Simple. You hit him, don’t let him hit you.

Mr. Han: You’ve already accomplished everything you wanted to. Why do you still want to fight?
Dre Parker: Because win or lose, I don’t want to be afraid any more. And I’m still afraid.

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