The Karate Kid (2010)
- Review Date: May 31, 2010
- PG
- Genre: Family and Kids
- 2010
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Common Sense Media says
Remake has new stars, new country, but same winning spirit.
 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this Karate Kid remake is a faithful adaptation of the original but because the central character is 12 instead of 16, the language and romance is appropriately scaled back, even though the violence is a bit more startling. There's not much cursing (a few uses of the word "ass") or sexuality (mild flirting and one chaste kiss), but there are a whole lot of fight scenes. The Chinese bullies are pretty merciless both off and on the mat. They're even willing to do some unethical moves to secure a championship. But when it comes down to it, this is a friendship story between old and young, East and West, and that's a fine message for young kids.
What's the story?
Twelve-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) moves with his widowed mother (Taraji P. Henson) from Detroit to Beijing, China, where he has to learn a new language, acclimate to a new school, and deal with a completely different culture. Early on, he shows an interest in Meiying, a pretty young violinist, but his flirtation brings him face-to-face with a crew of kung fu-practicing bullies who taunt Dre and beat him up pretty mercilessly at every possible turn. Like in the original, the bullies all take advanced martial arts at a scarily competitive kung fu studio led by Master Li (Rongguang Yu). Just when Dre's about to be attacked by six of the bullies, he's saved by his apartment complex's maintenance man, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), who hesitantly agrees to train Dre for a kung fu competition where he'll face all of his nemeses. Their mentor-mentee relationship develops into strong friendship that helps both Dre and Mr. Han grow past their insecurity and pain.
Is it any good?
With sequels as bad as those that followed the original Karate Kid, expectations for what some have called Karate Kid 5 were dismally low. Surprisingly, this remake is not only incredibly faithful to the original (except for the protagonist's age, the setting, and the style of martial art), but also so entertaining viewers are sure to clap and hoot throughout many, many scenes. What makes the kung fu reimagining work is the stellar performances by Smith, who channels his father Will's intensity and charm, and Chan, who finally seems in his element and gets to show some dramatic acting skills. They may not have some of the humorous exchanges (or lines) that made Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita so lovable, but their friendship is believable and strong enough to carry the story.
The movie, even with its unncessarily long run time of nearly two and a half hours, proves that Smith is a natural-born entertainer, which isn't surprising considering he's basically Hollywood royalty. He may have initially gotten the part because of his parents, but he's funny, at ease, and can even nail tween angst. The rapport between Smith and Henson as mother-and-son is realistic, and his flirtation with Meiying is adorable. The antagonists are perfectly played (at last, Asian boys aren't portrayed as geeky!), and Master Li is a slick, Chinese version of John Kreese's "No mercy!"-spewing Sensei. While it's unlikely that Chan's "take off the jacket/put it up" bit will become the cultural touchstone that "wax on!/wax off!" was, the spirit of the original -- the triumph of a multi-generational, multi-cultural friendship -- makes this underdog story hard to resist.
Explore, discuss, enjoy
Families can talk about how this is ultimately a fish-out-of-water story. How is Dre even more of an outsider than the original's Daniel? What are the cultural differences that make it difficult for Dre to fit in? Do outsiders always meet with bullying, or are there ways to make it easier to get along?
What do Dre and Mr. Han teach each other? Is it believable that an older man and a 12-year-old would become best friends?
While the first Karate Kid dealt with class, this one subtly deals with race and culture. How does Dre's different background affect his ability to fit in? Why? Did the movie challenge or reinforce any stereotypes? Kids: How do you treat people from different backgrounds or those who are new in town?
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Parent of 11 year old
June 12, 2010
AGE
12+ to me.
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.
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Parent of 5 and 8 year old
June 14, 2010
AGE
Good for our mature 5 yr old boy; Perfect for our 8 yr old boy
Our 8 year old boy is taking Kid's Karate and our 5 and a half year old boy is taking Lil' Dragons Karate. Yes, this movie had some violence in it, but you have to expect that when the movie is about a young boy learning to defend himself from bullies. The important thing is that violence was not glorified, and the consistent message was that the kids being taught "no mercy" had a bad teacher. There's one line where Dre (the main character) tells his mom he is going to learn Kung Fu, and she says, "I don't want you fighting" and he replies, "Mom, Kung Fu is not about fighting. It's about learning to make peace with your enemies." The movie has a very clear message that martial arts are about respect, honor, defense ONLY WHEN NECESSARY, and making peace with your enemies. There is nothing gratuitous about the violence in this movie. It's certainly not for all kids, but we felt very comfortable with our 5 year old boy seeing it, because he is that rare 5 year old who understands the subtlety of when it is appropriate to use martial arts and when it's not. I think for some 5 year olds it would be iffy. The boy says, "Kick @$$" but he is scolded for it when he says it, so it's not too bad. Our kids knew they'd better not repeat it. Overall, we were VERY pleased with the message of this movie: Focus, respect, honor, and a kid slowly becoming aware that the world doesn't revolve around him and learning empathy for others. This was very well done. Our kids loved it, and we loved it!
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Parent
June 19, 2010
AGE
Great for 8+, Violence needs to be discussed in advance
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.
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Parent
April 12, 2011
AGE
"new" Karate kid spits out a curse. Was not needed and takes away from a good family film.
Over all almost as good as the first. Almost...
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Parent of 9 and 12 year old
April 10, 2011
AGE
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Teen, 13 years old
April 4, 2011
AGE
B.A.D. - boring and despisable
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.
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Adult
October 17, 2010
AGE
Unnecessary scene makes movie FAIL
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.
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Parent of 8 and 11 year old
September 25, 2010
AGE
Good movie to introduce the effects of bullying and ways to address it
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.
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Parent of 4 and 7 year old
June 16, 2010
AGE
Finally an adult (Mr. Han - Jackie Chan) tells a kid that bad language is not appropriate (too much language in PG movies, very irritating) and to help out parents (even if it's focus is on Dre's coat not being hung up)...loved their friendship! My 7 year old daughter wants to take kung fu lessons now, which I just might let her do, thanks to the great scenes of how kung fu 'calms, allows focus', NOT the violence some use it for.
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Teen, 17 years old
December 18, 2010
AGE
well,
it isn't a bad movie, and can be fun. it irritates me though, that the title is Karate Kid, when the movie is set in China and the main protagonist learns Kung Fu, not Karate. it's gonna get people mixed up, and some are probably gonna think they're the same or something...
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| Topics: | Sports and martial arts, Friendship, Misfits and underdogs |
| Studio: | Columbia Pictures |
| Director: | Harald Zwart |
| Cast: | Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith, Taraji P. Henson |
| Genre: | Family and Kids |
| Run time: | 132 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | June 11, 2010 |
| DVD release date: | October 5, 2010 |
| MPAA rating: | PG |
| MPAA explanation: | bullying, martial arts action violence and mild language |
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