> The Karate Kid
3 stars (out of 5)
Director: Harald Zwart
Cast: Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith, Taraji P Henson, Han Wen Wen, Zhenwei Wang, Rongguang Yu
Rating: (PG)
Sending The Karate Kid (Rialto and Hoyts) to China is not that bad an idea.
After all, China does seem the place where you would be most likely to stumble upon a kung fu master working as a humble janitor.
The problem is that they are not in China for plot reasons, they are there to suck up to the Chinese so they will see the movie and make everyone involved very rich.
This has been the dream of Western businessmen since the Lancashire cotton mill owners dreamed of getting every Chinaman to lengthen his shirt tails.
The Karate Kid has a strong template for the remake to follow and when it sticks to the basic format it works.
Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) moves to China when his mum's job is transferred.
His friendship with Mei Ying (Han Wen Wen) brings him to the attention of school bully Cheng (Zhenwei Wang) so he needs to learn self-defence fast. Mr Han (Jackie Chan), his building's maintenance man, becomes his teacher and many life lessons are learnt.
If I can tell it in three sentences it should not need two and a-half hours of screen time.
Part of the problem is the Chinese angle.
Just because you have permission to film in China does not mean that you have to fill the screen with endless "hey look we are in China" sequences.
In summation, it needed more karate and less Olympic Village.
Best thing: Jackie Chan has the warmth and the fighting skills to centre this.
Worst thing: It just takes too long.
See it with: Any Jackie Chan fan, he has one tremendous fight scene that brings the film to life.
- Christine Powley
