Karate Kid by Cali Tamayo 2.5 Cartwheels!
We have all felt the pain of adolescence…the raging hormones, the sudden sexual impulses, the standing out like a sore thumb, the being picked on by ones who were much cooler and hip…yes…that seemingly eternal feeling of…’when is this hellish nightmare going to be finally over’…and believe you me…this misery is only compounded when your parent gets transferred to Moscow and you don’t speak a drop of Russian…DA! So it was not without reason that I fully embraced the original Karate Kid…time and time again…
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Now, having said that…that was the 1980’s and this is…the 21st Century…Today’s Karate Kid, Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) is still a cutie, (and why would he not be…being that he is the kid of Hollywood couple Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, who also produced the movie). You see…Dre is not very happy these days because he has been transferred really far from home…aaaaaaall the way to China…which is a really long way from Detroit, exactly 6637 miles away!
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Much like the original karate kid, this kid will suffer until he finds an unlikely ally in the maintenance man, Mr. Han (a senior looking Jackie Chan) who has a hidden talent or two. The talented Mr. Han takes short and skinny Dre under his wing and begins the process of instilling the confidence and discipline that each teenager needs to have a soft landing in late adolescence…throw some martial arts along the way and things can only get better….especially if you have been signed on to face your mortal enemies at a Kung Fu Tournament and your potential girlfriend will be watching…now that IS pressure!
The problem with this 21 Century Karate Kid, is a rather peculiar one: timing. And by this I don’t mean the ridiculously long length of it… By my own calculation this Karate Kid is about 4 years early. You see, since his parents are producing this movie, Jaden had to be the star…which is fine since the kid has a special presence and he does fight for his right to be taken seriously as an actor. Yet, it would have been nice to let him grow a bit…an older kid would have been better able to convey the pathos of adolescence and first love. It’s not really Jaden’s fault that he is a bit too young for the part. Now, what is really wrong is that the hot and talented Taraji Henson is totally wasted here with nothi
