The Karate Kid
Directed by Harald ZwartWork 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.
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Cast of The Karate Kid
The Karate Kid Ratings & Reviews
- stuhannafordJune 26, 2025Surprisingly, I kind of enjoyed it. Now I’m not one for having a go at young actors, but the enjoyment however, was very much in spite of Smith. Physicality, very impressive… acting, not so much. The attempts at cool, come off as obnoxious, confident as cocky, and I never really gravitated to his character. And for that, there are two aspects working against him, outside of his control… his father, Smith Snr, and Macchio. The first is that so much of the script feels tailored to Will, his charismatic, cheeky nature, and that just hasn’t been passed down, which isn’t his fault. That being said, you’d struggle to believe he’d have gotten the part in the first place without certain influences. The second is the comparison to a beloved classic movie, and an actor who created that angst, anger, sidelined spirit and sheer will and determination to succeed, that made you cheer him on through injustice. Smith Jnr, is no Macchio, and no Snr for that matter. The story is just about different enough to be a reasonably new watch, with a nostalgic nod or two (the fly never stood a chance). However, as expected, the draw and selling point is Chan. Not in the action way you might think though. Instead, it is that of a father figure, protective and encouraging, that I wasn’t entirely expecting from an actor with his perceived range. He steals each and every scene. Unexpected.
- James SaenzJune 6, 2025it’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.
- SelinaMay 29, 2025Finished the last 20mins after movie
- JeremeyMay 22, 2025A classic tale as old as time: A kid moves to a new town, gets bullied, learns martial arts from a mysterious maintenance man, and finds the strength within. Only this time? The town is Beijing. The martial art is kung fu. And the movie title is still... Karate Kid — because someone at Sony had a stroke while proofreading. 2030 reboot prediction: A Canadian alpaca learns Brazilian jiu-jitsu from a Russian chess coach played by Joe Rogan in Antarctica. Let’s go. Jackie Chan delivers a mentor with real depth. Jaden Smith? …has the emotional range of Kristen Stewart’s hair flip in Twilight. You’ll still get underdog vibes and a solid training montage, but calling this ‘Karate Kid’ is like calling The Fast and the Furious a bus safety documentary. 0% karate. 100% brand confusion. ★★★☆☆ – Ok flick. Wrong damn franchise.
