Following in his dad Will's big screen footsteps Jaden Smith is the new Karate Kid, a popular boy from Detroit who has to move to China thanks to his mother's job.
No longer the 'cool' kid at school, Dre finds himself the victim of bullies. In the land of Kung Fu, these are no ordinary bullies of course as they can seriously Karate chop you into oblivion in the blink of an eye so poor Dre is seriously out of his depth. Luckily for him the school maintenance man just happens to be Jackie Chan, alias Mr Han, who is a master of Kung Fu. Feeling sorry for the bullied youngster he agrees to teach Dre and must show him the martial art isn't just about the high kicks but also about finding and inner calm and balance.
While there have been a few attempts at sequels this is probably the best spin-off from the original 1984 movie. While it's no longer as fresh a story this film manages to capture a charm of its own at times, although it's nowhere near as good as the first film.
Jackie Chan is more serious than we're used to seeing him as Mr Han but he does add some much needed Kudos to the whole thing. Jaden Smith is ok, and is weedy enough to convince us he is the victim of bullies but it's all just a bit twee really. The King Fu is good and the story is sweet and predictable, about the under-dog rising up against the bullies and showing everybody what he's made of. Kids will probably enjoy this more than adults but there are enough elements recognisable from the first movie to appeal to those who enjoyed it first time around.
