Growing up, I loved the original Karate Kid. Each time watching it I wanted to go learn Karate; after all, the movie taught me that it takes only a few weeks to be taking first place in tournaments… and that’s if I’m badly injured.
Despite my love for the original, I was very excited about this new update to the franchise.
I went opening night. I laughed, cried– all of the movie cliche’s. But so did everyone else in our theater. People openly applauded (spoiler alert!!!) when Jaden Smith’s character flash-kicked the most terrifying 14 year old boy ever in the final tournament. Everyone in the theater cheered when the credits rolled. It was fantastic.
But the reviews have been harsh. People saying it was “inferior to the original in every way,” “shallow and heartless,” and even the rotten tomatoes consenus starts by saying “it may lack the power of the 1984 original.” I even read a review on a statement from someone who hated this movie, even though they opened their review with the phrase “I haven’t actually seen this movie…”
I contend that none of those statements are true.
This new film had its flaws: the movie is too long. Some points are drilled in repeatedly and there were a few select scenes that were unneccessary; the farewell moment in Detroit comes to mind.
Still, this movie was an absolute winner. The action was indisputably better than the brutally unrealistic “dancing” from the original movie. The acting was leaps and bounds ahead. There was an intensity that the first film simply did not have that Jackie and Jaden brought to this new version.
It’s hard to say that something new is better than something from our childhood. If a new Star Wars film were actually better than the old ones, people would cry herisy if you admitted it out loud. If we admit that anything is better now then when we were a kid, that not only attacks the memory, it attacks the childhood. This movie is great. If you compare it to the original, it’s better. But if you compare it to your carefree happy 1980′s childhood, you’re most likely in for some dissapointment.
