Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!
Plot Summary: After moving to China, a boy is bullied until he learns kung fu from a surprising source.
Review: I still remember groaning with annoyance when this film was announced with the rumored title "The Kung Fu Kid." That's a good one...makes me laugh for sure. But, when I did finally watch it, it wasn't too bad and surprisingly better than I thought possible. In a weird way, this would have been better if it weren't a remake at all and they ditched the ideas from the original and tried to tell their own tale. They just had to capitalize on the franchise, right? As it stands, they improved greatly in many aspects while falling short in others and, of course, lacking in the charm that made the original so iconic. So let's take a look at this last entry, thus far, as we put this franchise to bed.
First, let's look over the positives and improvements when compared to the original. Obviously the fighting is a million times better, but, to be fair, fight choreography was pretty tame, even in action movies, until the '90s with rare exceptions. This leads me to the main draw of the movie and the reason why I think it managed to be successful: Jackie Chan playing Mr. Han aka the Miyagi replacement. We get more or less the same kind of action from Jackie you'd expect, but I felt this was one of his best performances in years. Rarely does Jackie give us a lot of range beyond being a nice guy reluctant to fight, but, this time, he came off truly genuine as a depressed individual who develops an unlikely friendship. The regret Mr. Han had for his family dying had weight and gave us a little more insight on why he felt inclined to help out. I dare say Mr. Han was more interesting and believable than Miyagi. Blasphemy, right? As for Danny-boy's replacement, Dre, played by Jaden Smith, he is obviously a better fighter. His transition from weakling to capable fighter felt more natural and believable as we see him training profusely. I wouldn't say Dre is more likable than Daniel, but the immediacy of his bullying and the move to a foreign country was more apparent. Making Dre's mom more involved with the situation at hand was better as well. It also helped that she straddled that milf line a few times especially when wearing the traditional Chinese dress (a cheongsam). As for Dre's love interest, Meiying, she's no Ali but she's still interesting and quite talented. I liked that her parents became accepting of Dre after a certain point unlike Ali's tight ass, yuppie parents. The culture-shock plot element was another nice touch giving us absolutely beautiful shots of China in the process. Overall, there was a nice attention to detail, the cinematography was great, and they didn't try to outshine the original in favor of telling their own story.
Okay, now let's examine the flaws and failures. Probably the aspect that bugged me most was making all the characters considerably younger. Was this simply a ploy to get more kiddies to come out and watch it? Danny-boy turned 18 in the first movie and Dre is only 12; I felt high school was a better setting than whatever the hell grade this is supposed to be. Although everyone fighting better and faster was an improvement, it can appear absurd with the characters all just little kids for the most part. And it felt weird with Mr. Han beating up little kids, granted they attacked him, but still. The stakes also felt lower due to the age, because I find it hard to believe Dre was in serious danger unlike Daniel who might have actually been killed. The villains are forgettable and come off more as punk asses who honestly thought they could take on an adult. I'm sorry, but a grown man, with no martial arts training, is still going to obliterate a little kid in one hit no matter how tough. There also wasn't much of a motive for why they were bullying Dre since there was no girlfriend/boyfriend drama this time. There was one random kid with a mohawk at the final tournament who was more memorable and carried more presence than all the villains combined. Something unintentional that bothered me was how, umm, awkward Dre and Mr. Han could be at times. Miyagi and Daniel felt like friends and maybe even father and son, but Mr. Han and Dre occasionally feel like victim and molester. As for the references to the original movie, they did a lot of "fuck yous" to the audience like catching a fly with chopsticks. The scenes of Mr. Han teaching Dre to fight indirectly felt forced as well since he later just teaches him normally. The more memorable quotes also felt out of place at times as they didn't quite align with Mr. Han's perspective unlike Miyagi. The tournament is significantly lamer and goes by really fast. They employ too much slow-mo and the finishing move on the villain is idiotic. They ditch the crane kick in favor of some bullshit about using your chi to control your opponent...right. And finally, perhaps the most egregious offense, the movie plays a Bieber song during the end credits. That's just inexcusable.
If you took out all the references to the original, I think this movie could have stood on its own merits. Since they didn't do that, it lowers the score a bit because they didn't incorporate the ideas properly. This doesn't mean the film is bad though, because it is entertaining and fun, it's just they didn't need to leech off an established franchise. While the film failed to capture the charm of the original, it succeeded in numerous other respects making it a worthy addition with much needed improvements and infinitely better than part 3 and 4. If they do make another movie I would hope they deal more with how Mr. Han learned kung fu and give Jackie more room to stretch his legs.
Notable Moment: When Meiying reveals she's an amazing dancer. Uhhh...okay. That came out of nowhere. Kind of awkward too...
Final Rating: 6/10
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