This review first appeared in The Colorado Springs Gazette. To read this review at its original source, click here.

The Karate Kid proves that a good enough story can be retold again and again and still have something to say to each successive generation (the truly great stories need only be told once). You will cheer for this Karate Kid the same way you did for the original. And while it is doubtful this version will become the beloved classic the first one has, that is, ultimately, not for my generation to determine.

Twelve-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) is a fish out of water. Thanks to his mother’s (Taraji P. Henson) latest career move (we vaguely hear something about a car company), the Detroit natives now call Beijing home. Though Dre starts making friends right away, particularly cute classmate Meiying (Wenwen Han), he is also the locus of the class bully, Cheng (Zhenwei Wang), and his gang. In a country where “everybody knows kung fu,” Dre is repeatedly and painfully beaten. Only days into his stay in China, Dre is desperate to go home. Salvation comes in the form of Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), the shuffling, bowlegged maintenance man at their apartment complex. As Mr. Han teaches him, you must look with more than just your eyes; sometimes things are not always as they appear. Mr. Han begins training Dre in the way of kung fu, preparing the young man for a tournament in which he will have to face down his bullies and his own insecurities, in what is sure to be the fight of his life.

I watched the original The Karate Kid recently and was eminently pleased to discover it has held up exceedingly well. I can still remember walking out of the theater as a kid, karate chopping imaginary bullies in the parking lot on the way to the car. The film was one of those few cinematic experiences that everyone in my generation seemed to have participated in and today remembers with devout fondness. It spoke to so many of us about being misfit outsiders, the power of the underdog and the importance father figures. So, of course, I went into the remake with more than a little trepidation.

The good news is that this new version perfectly captures the emotional beats of the first film. It is respectful to what came before it without making the mistake that that respect must automatically imply slavish imitation. All the broad and even some of the minor brushstrokes of the original are there (if you know where the film is going every step of the way, you have, after all, seen it before) but injects more than enough life of its own (while including some nice reflective nods to its predecessor). This new, vastly larger budgeted Karate Kid is artfully directed by Harald Zwart, a director known primarily for schlock (including Pink Panther 2). Zwart beautifully blends modern, bustling Beijing with ancient China, a balancing act he likewise pulls off between action and emotion.

But why call it The Karate Kid? As the action has shifted from the Japanese martial art of karate to the Chinese tradition of kung fu, it seemed natural that the film’s title would reflect that change (indeed, early on, it was The Kung Fu Kid). That it kept the name of its forerunner has less to do, I think, with reverential nostalgia and more to do with casting the most blatant monetary net possible. Luckily, this most egregious of complaints is also the most feeble. The age disparity between the two casts leads to one of The Karate Kid’s only true concerns. The violence in the remake is far more intense than in the original, often brutal and bone crushing. At times, it is uncomfortable watching kids so young beat each other so savagely.

There is no mistaking whose child Jaden Smith is. To watch him is to know how Will Smith looked and behaved at that age. Father and son share so many personality traits and facial expressions, that Jaden arrives onscreen with the same sort of infectious, playfully disarming behavior we’ve come to expect from his dad. While Jaden lacks some of the genuine warmth and vulnerability that Ralph Macchio brought to the role (much of it, no doubt, a result of making the character younger), he is an easy person to root for, based in no small part on the fact that he is obviously doing the vast majority of his own, awe-inspiring stunts. The biggest surprise, however, is how well Chan can act when not required to cheesily punch and kick his way out of every scene.

Directed by Harald Zwart
Starring: Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson, Zhenwei Wang, Wenwen Han
Rated PG for bullying, martial arts action violence and some mild language.
Running Time: 140 minutes

© Copyright 2010 Brandon Fibbs. All rights reserved.

Directed by Harald Zwart
Starring: Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson, Zhenwei Wang, Wenwen Han
Rated PG for bullying, martial arts action violence and some mild language.
Running Time: 140 minutes