♥June 13, 2010
The Karate Kid is no doubt a great movie to watch! we went to watch this movie yesterday as usual at the Mall. i was freaking moody yesterday like shit but as the movie plays, i spontaneously laughs along with Dink. sorry ah beh for being such a crap.
Ok, let's talk about the movie. 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.
At the tournament, the under-confident Dre is slow to achieve parity with his opponents, but soon begins to best them, and advances to the semifinals, as does Cheng, who violently finishes off his opponents. Dre eventually comes up against Master Li's students, in particular a classmate of Cheng's who is instructed by Master Li to break Dre's leg. When his student insists that he can beat Dre, Master Li sternly tells him that he doesn't want him beaten, but broken. During the match, Li's student delivers a devastating kick to Dre's thigh, along with a series of brutal follow-up punches. Although Li's student is disqualified for his illegal strikes, Dre is incapacitated, which means Cheng will win by forfeiture.
Despite Han's insistence that he has earned respect for his performance in the tournament, and that he needs to learn when to walk away from a fight, Dre begs Han to use his fire cupping technique to mend his leg, insisting that he wants to see the tournament to the end. Han uses the fire cupping technique and lets Dre finish the fight. In the fight, Cheng kicks Dre in his leg. Dre gets up and uses the cobra technique. When Cheng starts to copy him, Dre kicks him in the head and wins the tournament. Li's students congratulate Han as Dre goes to see his mother and friends. The movie fades showing Han and Dre with his trophy.
From Love's point of view, the is awesome with balance feelings throughout the movie and Jaden Smith is so outstanding just as Jackie Chan appeared. Better hit the cinema guys and watched that kid with his kung fu skills and it has their very own sense of humour.
Labels: movie of the month
written at♥12:38 PM