'The Karate Kid' review

Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith (Credit: Jasin Boland/Sony)

Bullies have their eyes and fists on 12-year-old Dre (Jaden Smith) after he and his mom (Taraji P. Henson) move from Detroit to Beijing. Luckily Dre’s maintenance man (Jackie Chan, who shouldn’t be fighting kids) is also a kung fu master willing to teach Dre discipline and the art of defending himself.

The buzz: On the one hand, the world could use some new kids’ sports movies. On the other, how about a new idea, not a reboot of the beloved 1984 flick that has already had a few sequels and a late arriving revamp starring Hilary Swank?

The verdict: This might’ve been OK in a few years, when Smith grows into a stronger screen presence and his flirtation with a local girl, with whom he pinky-swears to attend each other’s big events, wouldn’t be so forgettably mild. “The Karate Kid” maintains the original’s sense of loneliness in a new place and the mental and physical oppression of bullying. Yet the racial and geographical changes inevitably call into question why Dre is picked on in the first place—something the movie, of course, isn’t out to acknowledge—and reinforces Asian stereotypes when Dre says, “It’s China, mom; everybody knows kung fu.”

Did you know? “Wax on, wax off” is replaced with “Jacket on, jacket off” as Dre repeatedly removes and puts on his jacket to learn the muscle memory needed for kung fu. Does this mean modern martial artists are also more skilled with fashion than with manual labor?

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