The Karate Kid

Movie: The Karate Kid

Location: Regal Cinemas Manassas Stadium 14

Cohorts: My brother Drew

Summary: A remake of the 1984 classic, The Karate Kid begins with young Dre Parker and his mother traveling to China from Detroit. Mrs. Parker has been transferred to a new job and Dre to a new school. When they arrive, Dre is at first confident as he immediately makes a new friend and meets a pretty girl, but the schools bully, Cheng, does not like them talking. He steals her sheet music; Dre steps in to retrieve it and is promptly thrown to ground by Cheng, starting a fight. Dre is beaten badly and left lying in the basketball court.

At school the next day Dre and Meiying connect over his inability to use chop sticks. Cheng notices this and slams Dre’s lunch tray into his face; the headmaster intervenes and they are sent off in separate directions. After school, Dre and his mother stumble upon a martial arts training ground. There he sees Cheng training under a brutal master whose martial arts creed is as follows: “No Weakness, No Pain, No Mercy”. Dejected, Dre mopes home along with his mother.

The following day, Dre finds an opportunity to humiliate Cheng and is chased through the streets to an abandoned courtyard. There, he is beaten and bruised until Mr. Han, the buildings maintinence man, steps in to save him. The movie then cuts to Mr. Han’s apartment, where he is attempting to heal Dre’s bruises with fire cupping. Dre thanks him for his help and begs for him to help confront Cheng’s master at the martial arts studio. Mr. Han finally agrees and they make their way to the studio. There, the master challenges Dre to fight his student then and there, but, being unprepared Dre refuses. Mr. Han is then challenged to fight in his stead, but he also refuses; suggesting that Dre will indeed fight, but in the next Open Tournament and not at the studio. This offer is accepted and Mr. Han proceeds to train Dre in his brand of martial arts.

Opinion: If you have seen the original Karate Kid you know how this movie will end, but you will not be reminded of too many of the original’s scenes; most of the story is reasonably different. I found that the remake seems to cater to a younger crowd than the original, Dre is 12, and Daniel was in high school. So, I did not empathize as much with the central character.

Jackie Chan’s portrayal of Mr. Han was excellent, and he definitely seemed more capable of teaching martial arts than Pat Morita’s Mr. Miyagi. The story is very successful as a modern retelling.

I give it 3.5 out of 5