Angela Jun 13, 2010 (edited Jun 13, 2010)
Between The A-Team and The Karate Kid, it'll be interesting to see who wins this "Battle of the 80s" at the box office this weekend. So far, it's looking far more promising for the latter...... but is it the better film?
The A-Team is unabashed fun, but overall, I think The Karate Kid is the better crafted movie. It's a delectable slice of classic filmmaking; CGI effects are practically nil, location shots are the real deal, the action sequences are clear cut and well choreographed, and the story, though familiar to a fault, is told with genuine sincerity. These are traits that can be difficult to find in movies nowadays, and it's even more of a rarity when all of them can be found in a movie that's billed for the summer season. There's also something about a spectator sport film such as this that makes it worth seeing alongside a receptive audience. The movie all boils down to the big tournament at the end, and my theater was collectively cheering on Jaden Smith's Dre to win. The last time I felt such a spirited cinematic spurring was during the final race in 2008's Speed Racer. It's a rush.
In regards to the fight scenes, they're pretty damned brutal. The young antagonists are, in several ways, harsher than the Cobra Kai ever were in the original Karate Kid. I've seen two descriptive terms in other reviews that accurately paint Cheng and his Flying Dragon gang: they have a real Yakuza vibe, and that they're like "ruthless little Chinese murder puppets." They definitely go beyond class bullying; when [Cheng] threatens to bring pain and suffering, you know he is not kidding. As far as kid-on-kid violence goes, this is definitely up there; the beat downs they give to Dre in the early get-go is nothing short of wince-inducing, making the fight sequences with young Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow featured in last year's G.I. Joe seem like child's play.
Jaden Smith does a pretty good job. His character goes through a wide cycle of emotions, and Smith manages to hold his own throughout. He bounces off the supporting cast well enough, especially with Jackie Chan and Taraji Henson as Sensei and mother respectively. In terms of length, The Karate Kid trumps Prince of Persia and The A-Team: a whopping two hours and twenty minutes anchors this badboy, making it feel less like a quick-fix summer blockbuster, and more like a sweeping epic. The length may not sit well with some folks, and I'm betting younger children may wind up becoming restless and fidgety before the big finale comes rolling around. For the rest of us, though, the generous length allows one to soak up the many beautifully shot Beijing locales, the deliberating training montages, and the subplots beyond Dre's story. The subplot involving Chan's Mr. Han contains a surprising number of emotive moments, delivered with equally surprising results from the Master of Martial Arts Slapstick Comedy. Chan himself is far removed from his usual funnyman element here, but he still kicks serious ass. The backstreet beating sequence is the most memorable in the film.
James Horner is simply being James Horner here. After the cut 'n paste effort that was the score for Avatar, this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. There's a hint of traditional Asian influence in the music, but it's so slight, that it barely resonates - certainly not on the level that Bill Conti brought to the original movies. The prettiest song in the movie actually comes in the form of Mei Ying's violin recital piece "Chopin's Nocturne #20 in C-Sharp Minor." Oh yeah, and Lady Gaga's Poker Face makes an impromptu but nifty appearance as well. 
Other than the lackluster music score, do I have a complaint about the movie? Only that it's pretty much a pound for pound retread of the first movie -- which isn't necessarily a bad thing, if we're to treat this as the remake that it is. It's been ages since I've watched the original, so I hesitate to proclaim which of the two is better. I will say that the new version has a story that still feels relevant today, and when you couple this with some nice emotional pulls, edgy fight scenes, and terrific cinematography, you've got a film that doesn't necessary HAVE to exist, but you're glad that it does.
