Kung-fu kid

After revisiting the 1984 original, certain responses to director Harald Zwart's remake of The Karate Kid spring immediately to mind. The first is that Jackie Chan is the genuine article, a charismatic actor and expert martial artist whose performance as the reluctant teacher is the highpoint of the film. The second is that, for all his confidence and charm, young Jaden Smith as Dre Parker is a poor substitute for Ralph Macchio, if for no other reason than his young age and the age of his opponents and love interest.

Originally dubbed "The Hip Nip" in his early days as a stand-up comedian, Pat Morita is campy and inauthentic as the bonsai-trimming, heavily accented Mr. Miyagi in the original series (his caricature of ethnicity being the most dated aspect of the films more than 20 years on). In contrast, Chan is sincerely Chinese, and his martial skills are astronomically better than Morita's unschooled flailing. This is true of nearly all the players, and the kung fu on hand in the remake is truly breathtaking (Smith's nemesis being played by a decorated Wushu champion).

That said, the charm of the original lies in its portrayal of teen angst and working-class insecurity. Zwart's film is lacking similarly significant subtext. Some effort is made to imply that Dre has demons and is traumatized by culture shock, but the fact remains that he's a 12 year-old boy, incredibly stylish and isn't facing any really serious difficulties. When Macchio's Daniel-san enters the climactic tournament at the end of the original film, he is untested, skinny and, on the surface of things, hopelessly out classed. Daniel-san's vulnerability is his defining characteristic right up to the very last scene. His is a true underdog story. Dre's inevitable victory is a given by comparison.

The setting for the remake may be different (Dre and his mother relocate from Detroit to Beijing rather than the San Fernando Valley from New Jersey), but much of the plot is lifted part and parcel from the original. Dre is the new kid in town, an outsider who develops a crush on a goodie-two-shoes girl (Wen Wen Han as Mei Ying) and attracts abuse from an ominous classmate (Zhenwei Wang as the kung-fu prodigy Cheng). Chan's Mr. Han soon takes the young man under his wing, and in an attempt to convince Cheng and friends to leave the boy in peace, accepts Cheng's teacher's challenge and enters Dre in a massive martial arts tournament.

There are the inevitable training sequences (this time it's "Pick up your jacket, put it on, take it off, hang it up, put it back on, take it back off" and so on rather than "Wax on, wax off"). Anyone familiar with the original will be bored by these sequences, but one suspects they'll have the desired effect on younger viewers.

The romance between Daniel-san and Elizabeth Shue's Ali is considerably more plausible than Dre and Mei Ying's. There is a difference, after all, between the interaction of high-school seniors and those of little kids. Smith is clearly ready to be launched by his famous parents into a career as an actor, but some serious changes would probably have made the film a better choice for him.

Zwart and Co. have done a commendable job bringing the iconic franchise to life for another generation, and the kung fu on display is a considerable improvement. If they make as many sequels as the original generated, the principles may even reach an advanced enough age to inject a bit more serious drama.  

James Walling can be reached at
jwalling@praguepost.com