Twelve-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) is moving with his mother Shelly (Taraji P. Henson) from Detroit to Beijing. She is excited this job transfer for her and sees it as a great adventure for both of them. He is depressed about leaving his best friend and his familiar home, a place where he has charted his life chronologically on the wall with notes about watershed events, including the death of his father. He thinks China is too old — old buildings, an old culture, and old people playing ping pong and practicing tai chi in the parks.
Dre is welcomed to Beijing by a hospitable white kid who lives in the same building. Yet trouble comes soon for this young African-American when he starts talking in the park with Meiying (Han Wenwen), a pretty girl who is practicing the violin for an upcoming audition. Cheng (Wang Zhenwei), the leader of a band of troublemakers, eggs Tre into a fight and thrashes him with a powerful demonstration of kung fu skills. Nonetheless, the relationship between the American and Meiying blooms into a friendship.
Sensing that this outsider is truly afraid of him, Cheng continues bullying him at school. Luckily, Tre is rescued by Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) one day after being severely beaten up. This unassuming and quiet fellow is the maintenance man for the building and also happens to be a gifted kung fu master. He volunteers to accompany Tre to a kung fu training center run by a teacher whose philosophy is summed up in the words: "No Weakness, No Pain, No Mercy." He has instilled a war-like spirit in his students who, like Cheng, are using this peace-oriented martial art to commit violent assaults on others. He challenges Mr. Han to enter Tre in a large martial arts tournament and, in exchange, he will keep his boys from bothering Tre while he trains for the event.
Harald Zwart directs this remake of the popular 1984 film starring Ralph Macchio and Noriyuki "Pat" Morita. Jaden Smith reveals a wide range of acting skills as Tre, creating a believable and incredibly sympathetic character. Jackie Chan as Mr. Han plays the role of the quiet, humble kung fu teacher with just the right balance of martial arts skill and human emotion. The story is longer than it needs to be, especially the set-up to the scenes of Tre's training, but it's not surprising that the filmmaker would get caught up in the salient scenic spots in China including the majestic Wudang Mountains.
The real emphasis here is on the personal transformation of a scattered, cocky, and unhappy boy whose life is set on a new path through training in the martial arts. Mr. Han's dojo or training center is in his backyard where Tre is disciplined in the motions of taking off his jacket, dropping it to the ground, picking it up again, and putting it back on. These movements have a purpose and so does the repetition of them. Here are some of the teachings Tre learns from Mr. Han:
• Be a master of the moment.
• Summon chi (energy).
• Realize that discipline is not a punishment.
• Kow that when you are fatigued, it is the time to increase the pace.
• Do not let the attacker set the rules of engagement.
• Someone else's win does not always mean your loss.
• The only person you need to control is yourself.
• Being a warrior is not about fighting but finding the truth about yourself.
• Life will knock you down but you get to choose whether or not to get back up.
When it comes time for this focused adolescent to compete in the kung-fu tournament, he states his major reason for participation is so that he will never be afraid again. This quest for fearlessness will resonate with anyone who has been tormented and humiliated by bullies. Since this is a major crisis in schools across the land, The Karate Kid comes across as both an underdog film and as a hopeful drama for those who yearn to stand up for themselves in the face of bullies.
Special features include Chinese lessons; a Justin Bieber music video featuring Jaden Smith; and a featurette on the making of the Karate Kid.
