The Karate Kid

The 2010 remake of the The Karate Kid (1984) has Jaden Smith in the title role and Jackie Chan as his teacher. The movie is produced by Will Smith, father of Jaden Smith.

The movie is about an American kid who moves to China and has troubles with his school bullies. His opponents are experts in Kung Fu, being trained by a vicious 'no mercy' teacher. Our hero gets an unlikely teacher in Jackie Chan, who agrees to train him so that he can kick the bad guys' butt in a martial arts tournament.

If the theme doesn't interest you much, the screen adaptation will bore you to death. Jaden Smith gives a terrible performance as an actor (compare it to Haley Joel Osment's performance in The Sixth Sense). The story is very familiar and has no hidden surprises.

The movie doesn't do justice to it's title since the martial art that's portrayed is Kung Fu, rather than Karate. So, this really ought to be 'The Kung Fu Kid'. There are several elaborate scenes in the movie to show off people training in Kung Fu. These scenes will make you yawn because they enforce every cliche about Kung Fu and China in general. If one has to learn Kung Fu, it has to be on a platform on top of the Great Wall, so that it can be filmed from all angles!

The climax of the movie is the most silly part of it. I won't say what happens in the tournament, but be assured that there won't be any surprises. The silliness might even irritate you.

If you thought The Next karate kid was bad, you can skip watching The (worst) Karate kid (2010). Hilary Swank can at least act. Can't say that about Jaden Smith.