i didnt really have much interest in seeing this one, but i am a sucker for anything with jackie chan in it. i remember the old karate kid movies from back in the day and found this one to be a very worthy update of those old movies. in fact, this one almost seemed better than the 80's movies! the story follows jaden smith who plays a boy who's mother gets a job that takes her to china. he must go along with her and tries hard to adapt to the different environment and culture around him. of course there is a love story, which is appropriately chaste considering both of them are only about 11 years old! smith keeps getting bullied by the chinese kids and seeks help to try and stand up to them. hopeless janitor jackie chan reluctantly agrees to train him. following the karate kid tradition of mr. miyagi, chan uses very a unconventional approach to his training which confuses smith to no end! the story ark of jackie chan and the developed friendship between he and smith are the real heart of this film. chan gives a moving performance as a man trying to come to terms with his past so that he can finally accept that he has a future worth living for. in a just world there would have been oscar talk last year for his amazingly raw performance- he really is a good actor! the final match between smith and the bully is fairly predictable, but the film leading up to it has been so unpredictably great that it is easy to over look such a small problem.
karate kid
i didnt really have much interest in seeing this one, but i am a sucker for anything with jackie chan in it. i remember the old karate kid movies from back in the day and found this one to be a very worthy update of those old movies. in fact, this one almost seemed better than the 80's movies! the story follows jaden smith who plays a boy who's mother gets a job that takes her to china. he must go along with her and tries hard to adapt to the different environment and culture around him. of course there is a love story, which is appropriately chaste considering both of them are only about 11 years old! smith keeps getting bullied by the chinese kids and seeks help to try and stand up to them. hopeless janitor jackie chan reluctantly agrees to train him. following the karate kid tradition of mr. miyagi, chan uses very a unconventional approach to his training which confuses smith to no end! the story ark of jackie chan and the developed friendship between he and smith are the real heart of this film. chan gives a moving performance as a man trying to come to terms with his past so that he can finally accept that he has a future worth living for. in a just world there would have been oscar talk last year for his amazingly raw performance- he really is a good actor! the final match between smith and the bully is fairly predictable, but the film leading up to it has been so unpredictably great that it is easy to over look such a small problem.
michael collins
now, i dont know much about the history of ireland so maybe this movie isnt for me. but i do love liam neeson, so i wanted to give it a try. the story follows michael collins (thats where the name of the movie comes from, in case you were wondering...) as he works with the people trying to get ireland's freedom from england. he first tries the violent approach, and gets englands attention, which is not always a good thing... he soon becomes a hero of the people of ireland and begins negotiating with the english leaders to find a peaceful solution. the people arent as excited about the peaceful option though, and he looses some support. the british leaders offer a deal, which collins accepts on behalf of the irish people, but then the british back out and are generally jerks about it all. the film itself is, i'm sure, an interesting study of great britain's political landscape during this time, but i must admit i wasnt drawn in by it. it was awfully talky, and the talking didnt always make sense. the people often times didnt act in very logical ways and the movie ends up with nothing to show for all the hard work, and julia roberts, mrs. collins, is left a widow. i know its historically accurate, but it just wasnt very compelling.
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