The Karate Kid (2010)

Genre: Action/Sports/Drama

Starring: Jaden Smith, Jacki Chan, Taraji P. Henson, Wenwen Han, Rongguang Yu, Zhenwei Wang

A remake of the 1984 classic, the movie tells film-makers exactly how a remake should be made. Rather than lifting each and every thing from the original movie and simply reproducing it in modern times, the movie greatly improves on the story, setup and cast to not just replicate the original but to make it better and more appealing to modern audiences. Dre Parker (Smith) has moved to China with his mother (Henson) since she got a new job in Beijing. Dre finds it extremely hard to adjust with the Chinese students and soon gets bullied by Cheng (Wang) and his friends when Dre tries to befriend Meiying (Han). Dre bears the brunt and is regularly beaten up due to their superior Kung Fu skills that Dre just doesn't have. Dre's apartment house maintenance man Mr. Han (Chang) sees Dre's situation and agrees to help him. Peace talks with Cheng's Kung Fu master, Master Li (Yu) go nowhere and Mr. Han proposes a fight at the Kung Fu tournament. Dre must train under the guidance of Mr. Han regularly is he wishes to emerge as the final winner and win back his honour. The movie carefully replaces USA with China, Karate with Kung Fu, Mr. Miyagi with Mr. Han but leaves everything else to be the same. Lovers of the original would not cry foul but instead love the remake for what it is. It may not take the movie to another level but it lives up to its reputation which is more than just enough. Jackie Chan sheds his Chinese Kung Fu warrior image to take on a more peaceful, unfit Kung Fu master and does a lot by doing so little. Good enough or maybe a little bit better than the original too.

Thumbs up: Jackie Chan

Thumbs down: Doesn't substantially improve the original

Rating: 6.8/10

The Karate Kid, Part III (1989)

Genre: Action/Drama/Sports

Starring: Pat Morita, Ralph Macchio, Robyn Lively, Thomas Ian Griffith, Martin Kove, Sean Kanan

Continuing from where the second part left behind, Mr. Miyagi (Morita) and Daniel (Macchio) return home to LA only to find that their house is being demolished and they need to move somewhere else. With Daniel's mother busy looking after his ailing uncle, Mr. Miyagi takes Daniel to his house but since the demolition of Daniel's house, he has lost his janitors job and has no source of income. Daniel persuades him to open a bonsai shop and rents a location out of his college fees. John Kreese (Kove) the trainer at the Cobra Kai, the dojo that lost against Daniel is out of business too since no one wants to train with him anymore. He visits his mentor and good friend, a billionaire and crook who helps him to revive his ailing career and promises to get even with Daniel and Miyagi. The Karate championship is coming up once again and Daniel wants to defend his title, to the disagreement of Mr. Miyagi. He doesn't believe that Karate should be used to win trophies and sticks to his view that it should only be used to defend himself in the hour of need. Disappointed, Daniel decides to get trained alone and maybe even from someone else. The movie continues to be a bore like the previous movie and does not spark the excitement that the first movie had. Ralph Macchio's performance is annoying, he looks fat and ugly and cannot act for anything in the world. The movie shows you glimpses of Karate once more and tries to replicate the first movie but fails miserably. The story is far too predictable and the only persons who might want to waste time on it is those who simply want to complete the series, like me.

Thumbs up: Zero

Thumbs down: Annoying Ralph Macchio's performance, boring and predictable

Rating: 5.5/10

Paan Singh Tomar (2010)

Genre: Biography/Crime/Sports/Action/Drama

Starring: Irrfan Khan, Mahie Gill, Imran Hasnee, Zakir Hussain

Governments across the world are criticised at times for not supporting and honouring citizens who have given their lives and love for the betterment of the country. Often such people are short-lived celebrities who fade into a deep trench soon after. Paan Singh Tomar (Khan) was a young army officer who had a panache for running and joined the sports division in the army, not for the passion but for the unlimited food on offer. His sincerity and commitment saw him excelling in the sport and winning the steeplechase event in the Asian Games for 7 years in a row. His elder brother Matadeen (Hasnee) breaks the news to him that his cousin has forcefully taken over Paan's farmland and has raised a gang of gun-totting goons who refuse to return him his land. Having served the country, Paan wanted the police or the judiciary to intervene and resolve the matter, however, all his efforts were in vain. Giving up all hope, Paan decides to raise an army of rebels who would come the aid of the innocent and get rid of those who try to ruin the common mans life. The movie reflects upon the apathy of those people who honour their country and keep faith in it which in return offers nothing to its citizens. The movie has gained a phenomenal fan-following with Irrfan Khan's exemplary performance in the movie throughout. Sadly, the movie suffers from a drawback that plagues almost every Bollywood movie; over-stretched plot lines. Had the movie shed a handful of minutes here and there, the movie would have been a splendid watch with the dragged and overdone parts being forgotten.

Thumbs up: Stupendous Irrfan Khan

Thumbs down: A bit overdone and stretched at parts

Rating: 7.1/10

The Fighter (2010)

 Genre: Sports/Drama/Action/Biography

Starring: Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, Melissa Leo

Based on the true life story, Micky Ward (Wahlberg) is an Irish-American welterweight professional boxer who has been living in the shadow of his elder brother and dominating mother. His elder half-brother, Dicky Eklund (Bale) was a not so successful boxer whose only shot to fame was when he knocked down Sugar Ray and became a local hero. Dicky became a crack addict and failed to train his brother correctly due to which he simply kept getting older without getting anywhere. Micky's mother, Alice (Leo) was Mickey's manager who doted on her elder son, overlooked all his wrongs and chose to control most of Micky's life. A string of wrong decisions, lost fights and bad training saw Micky going down in boxing which also led him to lose all self-confidence. He fell in love with bar girl Charlene (Adams) who made him stand up against his family and choose what is right and what is wrong for himself rather than let his mom and brother call the shots. The movies biggest and greatest highlight is Christian Bale and his fantastic performance. Nobody would say that the thin, dazed, doped and pale actor was the very same man who previously played Batman and many more such roles in his career. Bale and his performance shone throughout the movie accompanied by Adams for which they both won supporting actor awards. An enticing and interesting movie which is almost flawless.

Thumbs up: Marvellous acting and performances

Thumbs down: None in particular

Rating: 8.2/10

The Karate Kid (1984)

Genre: Sports/Drama/Action

Starring: Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elizabeth Shue, Martin Kove, Randee Heller, William Zabka

Daniel (Macchio) and his mother Lucille (Heller) have just moved in to Los Angeles from Newark when Daniel’s mother got a new job offer. Daniel is not liking the move and is finding it hard to adjust. He befriends and falls in love with Ali Mills (Shue) who comes from an affluent family who too loves him back. Ali's ex-boyfriend Johnny (Zabka) is jealous of Ali's new love and does not like the fact that she has gotten over him for someone else. Johnny makes Daniel’s life miserable by beating him up and bullying him at every opportunity. Daniel is unable to stand up for himself and Ali does not appreciate that. Mr. Miyagi (Morita) is the local repairman in Daniel’s neighborhood who learns of Daniel’s problem and agrees to teach him Karate to defend himself. Daniel has two months to train himself for the big championship where he intends to take Johnny down once and for all. The movie has garnered a cult following over the years and has become a known name in martial arts movies. The character of Mr. Miyagi as the wise Japanese old man has been replicated through various forms over the years. The plot, however, is too basic and highly predictable right till the very end. In spite of its overtly predictable plotline, the movie manages to keep audiences engaged and shows the true spirit of Karate over what the commercial Karate schools intend to teach. A good entertainer for the entire family.

Thumbs up: Great action-packed martial arts entertainment

Thumbs down: Simply and predictable story

Rating: 6.8/10

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