Jackie Chan hits hard in ‘Karate Kid’

June 11, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

By Robert W. BUTLER

Kansas City Star

Jackie Chan, Oscar nominee?

Not as farfetched as you might think.

In the new remake of “The Karate Kid,” the frequently hammy veteran Hong Kong action star gives a performance of such restraint and emotional depth that you’ll sit there with your mouth open ... at least when you’re not tearing up.

The rest of the movie isn’t bad either, especially young Jaden Smith, who exhibits a charm and unforced range way beyond his years (he has the right gene pool: His parents are Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith).

This “Kid” can’t escape some clunky ideas it inherited from the 1984 original — a thick vein of sadism (a karate tournament that allows 12-year-olds to whale mercilessly on one another? I don’t think so.) and the laughable notion that a youngster can be transformed into a real martial-arts contender in just a few weeks.

In other regards, though, this effort from director Harald Zwart is an improvement.

Young Dre Parker (Smith) is none too pleased when his widowed mom (Taraji P. Henson) uproots him from his Detroit home and accepts a position with her company in Beijing.

Feeling adrift, Dre thinks he may have found a kindred spirit in Meiying (Wenwen Han), a pretty, violin-playing Chinese girl who attends his new school. But their attraction draws the attention of a gang of kung fu bullies led by Cheng (Zhenwei Wang). Cheng is a student at the martial arts academy of Master Li (Rongguang Yu), an egomaniacal creep who advises his kids, “Your enemy deserves pain.”

Dre is saved from a savage beating by Mr. Han (Chan), the quiet maintenance man at their apartment building. After that he begins begging Han for martial-arts lessons.

Han’s regimen isn’t exactly what Dre expected. He spends a couple of weeks doing nothing but taking off and putting on his jacket. Ah, but there’s a method to Han’s seemingly pointless exercises.

It all leads up to a martial arts tournament at which Dre will have to prove himself against Li’s best fighters.

This “Karate Kid” (actually, isn’t “karate” a Japanese term? And isn’t this kung fu? Never mind ...) works on several levels. It really captures the feel of life in modern Beijing and should open the eyes of younger viewers to the way life is lived in other countries.

It has some great scenery (although it’s doubtful that in real life martial-arts students are allowed to practice their moves on top of the Great Wall).

The tentative romance between Dre and Meiying is wonderfully innocent and sweet.

But the film’s heart lies with Han, who for much of the first hour seems almost a ghostly presence, a gray, shadowy man whom you see only out of the corner of your eye.

In the original, Pat Morita’s Mr. Miyagi was a comic presence. But Han is a damaged man carrying some major baggage; the scene in which he reveals his loss to Dre is the finest dramatic moment of Jackie Chan’s career.

Of course, it all comes down to a brutal tail-kicking at the big tournament.

Director Zwart’s track record doesn’t inspire confidence (”Agent Cody Banks,” “The Pink Panther 2”), but after a slow first hour his “Kid” finds the right gear.

The worst you can say about it is that at more than two hours it’s too long. At best it’s a rousing good show.