The Karate Kid

So I went into this movie not really knowing what to expect.   I had heard from people who had seen it that it wasn't bad and so I was cautiously optimistic.  Happily, I wasn't disappointed and I found myself actually enjoying this remake of the successful 1980's movie.   First off, as many have noted, as the movie is set in China, they characters aren't actually learning Karate (the Japanese martial art form) but Kung Fu.   This is explained during the movie when the bullies picking on Jayden Smith's character, tease him by calling him the karate kid when he tries to defend himself.  I know... it seems like kind of a hack way of allowing them to use the same title... "The Karate Kid"  and I agree..   I don't know why they couldn't have called the movie "The Kung-Fu Kid" instead... but that's Hollywood for you.   It seems they wanted to cash in on the previous movie... and didn't trust the audience to be smart enough to make the connection between the two movies without that tie-in.  The cinematography in this movie was pretty spectacular and some of the shots of China, Beijing, the great wall, the country side, etc where phenominal.  I loved seeing the mix of the modern and the ancient parts of the city.   Jayden Smith played a decent part and makes a convincing student to Jackie Chan's character who steps in for Patrick Moriarty as the teacher.  Actually, I must say that Chan steals the show in this movie, in my opinion.  Delivering a credible performance as the forlorn maintenance man/teacher.   The movie is a bit long but I struggle to think where they could have cut scenes without taking away from showing China.    If there is one flaw in the movie, it was that they left the story TOO similar to the older 1980's movie.  I wished the writers might have changed some of the story while keeping the under lying plot line.   Still... all in all...  this is a decent summer movie worth seeing at the theater if you can.   (4.0/6.0)