The Karate Kid

Let's be clear - while The Karate Kid basically follows the same story as its 1984 forebear, the youth doesn't learn karate from a Japanese-American. Instead, he's moved to China, and learns that nation's most famous martial art: kung-fu. In fact, in China the film was released under the slightly more appropriate title of The Kung Fu Kid. But hey, they couldn't really hope to do that in the West and cash in on the reputation of the franchise.

The kid in question is 12-year-old Dre (Jaden Smith), who moves to Beijing because of his mum's job (and presumably the film's finance deal). Almost immediately, Dre gets into a scrape in the local playground, and is beaten down by a bigger kid (Zhenwei Wang). Said bigger kid and his stooges bully Dre - until caretaker Mr Han steps in. This is the ever-likeable Jackie Chan, whose first fight with the bullies involves merely defensive combat, putting them in situations where they hit each other. It's quality Chan - highly choreographed and inflected with slapstick.

Chan has an interesting role here - he gets to do a little of his comic combat, but it's also a dramatic part, as he's a damaged widower. He also has a great rapport with Smith who, perhaps, inevitably, is a natural screen presence. He's inherited his parents' open good looks, and many of his dad's mannerisms. He's also first billed - pretty good going for a pre-teen with only two features under his belt co-starring with one of the biggest names in the world. But then, mom (Jada) and pop (Will) are producing.

Dre is a younger character than Ralph Macchio in the original film, but he undergoes the same transitional story arc. That involves being entered into a tournament where he'll face his tormenters, and having to learn kung-fu pretty much from scratch. There's no "wax-on, wax-off", but he does have to hang up his jacket a gazillion times.

The film can't help but be involving; after all, it follows the classic formula of the sports underdog story. The Karate Kid was always Rocky's baby brother, and, as with Rocky or the original, the climactic tournament and final fight is satisfyingly stirring. That said, this Karate Kid does take takes an age to warm up, may alienate some via its extensive subtitled dialogue, and packs in an absurd amount of sightseeing (Olympic Stadium, Forbidden City, Great Wall and more) that doesn't help the story but just bloats the running time.