The Karate Kid

I'm just as much a naysayer and protester to the slew of remakes that Hollywood produces each year as any other loud voice out there. I wish that more creative and/or NOT remade material shot out each week onto those big movie screens, but alas there's nothing "the little guy" can do when these flicks keep making money. All I can hope for is that every once in a while, a remake is done right.
In the case of THE KARATE KID, they did fare well. I'm going to disregard the inappropriate title and also see this as a standalone movie. If it is to be categorized in THE KARATE KID series, then it's a better version of THE NEXT KARATE KID. How about that?

Rather than lather myself in butter and roll around naked on a floor of saran wrap, I can have a much cleaner and almost enjoyable experience watching this decent movie. I was taken off guard by how much I liked it. It's not perfect, but for what this flick's intentions are, it hits more notes that it misses, and only a few notes go astray, which might even be overlooked if the audience wasn't listening to the pauses.
What I mean by "pauses" is the long runtime. This argument shows up a lot in reviews, and I must agree that it goes on for too long. However, this movie plays a little heavy on the drama side more than I expected, and the minutes that ticked by didn't seem to overflow with one fluffy, discardable scene after another. In fact, I don't even mind all that happened, and am thankful for the montages to save even more arduous time-wasting (don't you wish you could just learn how to do things in a montage? It would not only be less painful and time-consuming, but you look cool while doing it!).
Mr. Chan did a good job as the beaten down and weathered old man, keeping his slapstick antics to a minimum. In this movie's case, that's for the better. Jaden Smith impressed me more than he did in any given SECOND while watching THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS. I actually consider him as a potentially viable actor now! The most charming performance goes to Wenwen Han, who doesn't have to do much but smile. There are few smiles in the world that could show such open kindness and reverence at the same time. She's a charming young girl and I'll keep my eye out for any future projects she might choose to do.
Another notable slice of goodness is in the cinematography. It is a very cinematic viewing experience that captures the magic of China nicely. It made me want to go back and visit again.

This isn't a completely flawless picture. There's plenty for me to complain about. Although the story proceeds in similar format to the 1984 classic, each beat is carried longer and certain impetuses (is that the plural?) towards key character reveals/events are altered only enough to proclaim this as "not the same movie". Mr. Han's background is far less interesting than the rich history of Mr. Miagi's one tragic day per year. Some of the nods to the original series in dialog or action were amusing.
Interspersed between long dry spells of drama and more drama are short spurts of kung-fu fighting action. However nicely choreographed and energetic they may have been, it was a laugh riot seeing Jackie Chan fight 12 year old boys. It was nice to throw a couple bigger kids into the mix, but in the end I kind of had to say "really?"
I was diggin' most of the bullshit fight training and the actual fight scenes and going along for the ride, but then my suspension of disbelief got pushed to the limits during the final competition. I had to remind myself of a few important tips; number one, this is for kids more than for adults (kids that probably haven't seen the original); number two, it is a fantasy tale about a young boy that overcomes seemingly impossible odds against a giant - a goliath - and he's the David that happens to have the power of the fates at his side and allows him to do complete splits and master kung-fu in the span of only a few months.
With those two main points in my head, I couldn't help but feel that the fantasy started to turn into a pipe dream when the super-kicks and Uber-flips started whizzing across the screen as these tough young boys battled for the championship. I was more grounded when hearing "You're the best... AROUND!!" This time, I had to push the limits of my acceptance to the adventure a little bit - no a lot - farther than the rules that were established within roughly the first half hour.

All that aside, I was overall pleasantly surprised by THE KARATE KID, and if I had to recommend a remake over the last few years - and I would never do that unless forced to do so - I might just put this up on the list of ones to consider. That's quite a feat, because I had nothing but venom for this one from inception all the way to the not-so-hot trailers before release.
Just like Mr. Han's fortune cookie mumbo-jumbo, I'll leave with:
"One must keep heart open
Like you would your mind.
Closed heart and
Closed mind
Makes you blind to opportunity.
Like masturbating. You'll go blind. Don't do it."