I took my 2 youngest nephews, and my niece to see this last Sunday at the Harkins at CTown, we had to wait almost 1hr and a half in line which would not have been too bad had they still had benches to sit, but nooooo, some dork kid fell and hit his head so they removed them, great cause someone can’t watch their kid others suffer. ANYWAYS, once we got into the theater things went pretty good, and then the movie started.
It had a slow beginning but moved along fast once they got to China. He meets a kid that we think may have a big role in the movie but he don’t. I guess they needed him to talk to a local kid somehow (although this local kid is American), in order to get him to the playground where he first meets the bullies of this film. The kid in the middle played by Zhenwei Wang, names Cheng in the movie is the “bad guy” in the movie, and those surrounding him, his bad boy posse. They go to town on Dre played by Jaden Smith who if you don’t know (you must live under a rock), is the son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. In the images below they are getting back at him for dousing them with some oil or something.
It look’s like he’s about to get the beatdown of his life until Mr. Han steps in, played by of course Jackie Chan, this movie’s Miyagi. Now it’s been a long time since I’ve seen the originals (and no “The Next Karate Kid” does not count as an original, it was crap!) but I don’t think Miyagi was that angsty in the flicks. I thought they could have done better with Han showing Dre how to fight, there seemed to be more “drama” than “fight” but maybe thats how the originals were and I don’t remember.
Now what I do remember of course is the “Wax on, Wax off,” which I am sure everyone has heard once in the life. Where was this movies “Wax on, Wax off.” Well its in the form of, “Jacket on, Jacket off.”
Why did the fighting start? The same reason as every other movie, a girl.
All in all the movie was ok. I know many people went out to see this just to see how good or bad Jaden Smith’s acting was. I do think he could have done better in some of the scenes but all in all he did a great job for his first movie, and it was nice to see (after the movie during the credits) photos of his parents with him during filming, and seeing the fun they had watching their son begin something that started a long time ago. If your a fan of the originals expect a more updated feel, expect more angst, and expect the audience filled with kids for the new generation, and adults from the old generation clapping and cheering for scenes that made them think of the original movies.
(pictures copyright The Official Website and Filmofilia.com)