The Karate Kid
The Karate Kid
Work causes a single mother to move to China with her young son; in his new home, the 12-year-old boy embraces Kung Fu, taught to him by a master.
James Saenz reviewedJune 6, 2025
it’s hard not to compare this to the original when it so desperately wants to remind the viewer of what it felt like to strike lightning— a strike that this film never seems to be able to deliver. where daniel-san was quick witted and sincere, xiao dre comes off as petulant and uncouth. the nurturing and compassionate relationship that mr. miyagi developed with his protégé feels like it stumbles with mr. han, and this new relationship is severely hampered by the film’s need to spell everything out for its audience. a perfect microcosm of this issue exists in one of the biggest moments of the original movie where daniel develops a far deeper relationship with and understanding of who mr. miyagi is when he gets drunk on his anniversary and divulges just a tiny amount of his life story to daniel, eventually passing out; daniel’s curiosity is what allows him to sift through mr. miyagi’s box of memories afterwards and unveils what mr. miyagi himself could never say out loud. it’s an extremely sobering and heartfelt scene, and its direct counterpart in this film feels so inferior in comparison. it’s the best acted scene in the film on both jaden smith’s and jackie chan’s parts, but the screenplay undercuts the emotion in their performances— and it’s little changed like these to the delivery of the story beats that dilutes the power of the original narrative.
even the main antagonist cheng doesn’t have the same air of upper class white entitlement that johnny embodied; honestly, removing the class disparity from the narrative takes a lot out of the underdog story and commentary on the lack of access to resources that disenfranchised and impoverished communities must circumnavigate to even pose a fighting chance in society.
all that being said there are some funny moments, and it easily has the best martial arts choreography of the franchise so far. it’s just a shame the kung fu wasn’t filmed in a gripping way; it really makes me wish a chinese director that was familiar with the style of film and fighting took the helm instead.