Karate Kid Remake: A Star is Born, Maybe

The Karate Kid remake starring Jackie Chan and Will Smith's son, Jaden, is getting mostly decent reviews:

• Mike Russell, Oregonian: Sometimes, "formulaic" works. It's "charming, thoughtfully paced and even a bit emotionally involving, with what might be a movie-star turn by a movie star's son."
• Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: Chan gives "a subdued performance of surprising grace," while Jaden "is suitably prickly as the forlorn tween terrified of an unknown country and an unknown language."

• Peter Howell, Toronto Star: "It’s possible to enjoy The Karate Kid as a simple, if too long, story of self realization. I’m troubled, however, but the large amount of violence practiced by and directed against kids who have barely reached puberty—the body slams and bone crunches seem all too real."
• Eric D. Snider, Film.com: Not to nitpick, but "at no point in the new Karate Kid does anyone learn karate. It's kung fu."

Want more? Click here to read what the movie tells us about America's relationship with China.