The violence...way too much...this movie is targeting youngsters...why so obvious? Why not more Hitchcock (know it happened and didn't see it) (Did we need to see the kid's leg broken?) There is an end scene where the mean boys abandon their violence driven teacher and honor Jackie Chan, the good teacher. Unfortunately this message is lost on the younger crowd since they don't have the life experience to grasp things like societal honor, subtle shame, and other more mature components. I would have felt better about all the violence if this statement were more dramatic so the younger kids would understand the mean approach was not the right one. I'm afraid in this movie the mean approach was presented as an "option" vs the wrong thing to do. Having said all of that, the movie was fantastic. I wish we had waited till my son was older to have watched it or I had watched it alone and had pre discussions on it with him.

Too violent for 9yo. I rate as more appropriate for 12 to 13+. There is an element of sadism in the violence between the children. It seems odd to watch children fighting, anyway. My kid is 11 and takes karate, so I am okay with martial arts. There is something dark about this movie. The fighting isn't sparring, it is brutal. The mom figure is well-meaning, but essentially clueless while she watches her son get the tar beat out of him. Not a role-model to follow. This borders on PG-13. On the up side, Jackie Chan give the performance of his career. The subtle product placement here is the country of China, which is portrayed as a big village and a dramatic landscape tourist destination.

Now it's Jaden Smith with Karate Kid, soon it'll be Willow Smith with Annie. Although, hopefully Annie won't be as dull as this movie was. I had to keep myself from falling asleep. If you want to see Karate Kid, check out the old one. Anything but this will do you good.

Setting this remake in a different country helped make this a surprisingly cute movie. The score was a little too cliche, like they just chose top 20 type songs instead of songs that fit the moment. The thing that bugged me the most was the dance scene in which 12 year olds dance to adult songs. I don't think it's quite appropriate for a 12 year old girl to dance provocatively to a Lady Gaga song. That's not something I would want my daughters to emulate. Other than this scene, I thought it was a nice movie. But with this scene, I won't recommend the movie to anyone.

I loved the new Karate Kid movie because it clearing should the discipline of martial arts versus the abuse of bulling. In addition, it showcase the importance of being respectful of your parents and how bullying can stem from bad adult influences and not the child.

the kid cusses. spongebob is on when he is trying to go to bed. kids try to break each other's bones. the coach tells a kid to break dre's leg. Dre and the Chinese girl kiss. lots of fights.

This movie was amazing! Yes there is violence with the bullying, but I felt it portrayed bullying in the true light that it is UGLY! It also showed that the bullies had poor leadership in their teacher, who teaches them to have no mercy! As much as we want to shield our children, we cannot shield them to the point that they are not prepared for the real world! Use these moments to have real life discussions! The word ass is mentioned, by the actor Jaden Smith in a moment of frustration and he is told to watch his mouth, and taught by his teacher (Jackie Chan) to have respect for his mother. This movie will allow for some great family time, and some great communication time as well :-)

The film's message was NOT that we can't solve our problems with violence. It clearly showed that the hero solves his problem -- being bullied -- with violence. I kept waiting for the hero to show the kind of mercy his opponents refused to show him. But the hero did not show mercy. In the end we see the bad guys bowing to the good guy because the good guy beat them up. I was very disappointed in the film. And now I don't know whether to trust Common Sense Media reviews.

I hated the movie. I felt very uncomfortable seeing young kids ~12 so evil, mean and merciless. I kept looking at my watch. The movie is 2h20m and after 1 hour, Dre (Smith) has not even been taken as student by Jackie Chan. I actually wanted to leave the theater. (I've made my kids sit through War of the Worlds and Date Night - shame on me but I think those are less offensive than this movie). I found portraying Chinese people the way they did to be offensive. This day and age, having a Martial Arts Instructor right in Beijing be so evil as to tell his students to injure/cheat an opponent and break his leg?!! Totally unbelievable. I would ban this movie in China. None of the kids in the movie have any innocence. Jayden Smith was very cute but acted like an adult (acted a lot like Will Smith, actually). Other than the first white boy that welcomed Dre, there were no other good boys in the movie. I wish they included the white boy more during the course of the movie. The girl Dre liked had no innocence for a 12-year old Chinese girl - way too flirtatious. And are there no decent parents in this movie? Even Dre's mother does not seem very responsible or concern about her son's long term welfare. How about the bad kids' parents? Don't anyone teach morality and ethics other than Mr Han (Jackie Chan)? I miss Jackie Chan's usually happy demeanor. He was serious (ok) sad and depressed. I admire the main character wanting to conquer his fear. But it was a very short-sighted view.