The Karate Kid

The Karate Kid, known as The Kung Fu Kid in China and Japan, and Best Kid in South Korea, is a 2010 martial arts film remake of the 1984 film of the same name. Directed by Harald Zwart, produced by Will Smith, the remake stars Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith. Principal photography for the film took place in Beijing, China; filming began around July 2009 and ended on October 16, 2009. The Karate Kid was released theatrically in the United States on June 11, 2010.The plot concerns a 12-year-old boy from Detroit who moves to China with his mother and incurs the wrath of the class bully at his new school. He makes an unlikely ally in the form of his aging maintenance man, a kung fu master who teaches him the secrets to self-defense.

Upon arriving at his new school in Beijing from Detroit, 12-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) develops a crush on pretty classmate Mei Ying (Wen Wen Han), who reciprocates his attention. But, the neighborhood bully Cheng (Zhenwei Wang), a kung fu prodigy whose family is close to Mei Ying’s, attempts to keep them apart by beating up Dre, and later harassing and humiliating him in and around school. During a particularly brutal beating by Cheng and his friends, the kindly maintenance man of Dre’s building, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), comes to Dre’s aid, revealing himself as a kung fu master who adeptly dispatches Dre’s tormentors.After Han mends Dre’s injuries using fire cupping, a form of Chinese medicine, they go to Cheng’s teacher, Master Li (Yu Rongguang), to attempt to make peace, but the brutal Li, who teaches his students to show no mercy to their enemies, challenges Dre to a fight with Cheng. When Han declines, Li threatens him, saying that they will not be allowed to leave his school unless either Dre or Han himself fights. Han acquiesces, but insists the fight take place at an upcoming tounament, and that Li’s students leave Dre alone until the tournament. The amused Li agrees.

Han begins training Dre, but Dre is frustrated that instead teaching him how to punch or kick, Han has Dre spend hours taking off his jacket, hanging it up, dropping it, and then putting it back on again. After days of this, Dre refuses to continue, until Han explains to him that the repetitive arm movements in question were Han’s method of teaching Dre defensive block and strike techniques, which Dre is now able to display instinctively when prompted by Han’s mock attacks.As Han’s lessons continue at his home, and in the Chinese countryside, he teaches Dre that the movements he is learning apply to life in general, and that serenity and maturity, not punches and power, are the true keys to mastering the martial arts. During one lesson in the mountains, Dre notices a Kung Fu practitioner copying the movements of a cobra before him, but Han informs him that it was the cobra that was imitating the martial artist, an ability that Dre wishes Han to teach him. Dre subsequently attempts to use this technique on his mother, without success.

Dre’s friendship with Mei Ying also continues. Mei Ying agrees to attend Dre’s tournament, while Dre promises to attend her upcoming violin recital. They also attend, along with Dre’s mother, Sherry (Taraji P. Henson), and Mr. Han, an outdoor festival, during which Mei Ying teaches Dre about the mythological meaning behind a classical puppet theater show, as a prelude to a shared kiss between them. Subsequently, Dre takes Mei Ying on an excursion in which they skip school for a day of fun and video games, but when she is nearly late for her violin recital, which has been rescheduled for that day, Mei relates to Dre that her parents have deemed him a bad influence, and have forbidden her from spending any more time with him.

When Dre finds a drunk and despondent Han smashing the car he has been repairing, he learns that it is the anniversary of his wife and son’s deaths, which occurred many years ago when Han lost control of the very car in question during an argument with his wife while driving up a steep hillside. Dre reminds Han that one of Han’s lessons to Dre was in perseverance, and that Han needs to heal from his loss in order to move on in life. Han then assists Dre in writing a note that he reads when he goes to apologize to Mei Ying’s father, promising never again to bring dishonor to their family. Impressed, Mei Ying’s father tells Dre that his daughter told him that she promised to be present at Dre’s Kung Fu tournament, and that as he does not wish a member of his family to break a promise, he accepts Dre’s apology.