The Karate Kid/功夫梦

The point of the story was a very traditional Chinese one, which was popular in Kung Fu movies: a little kid, oppressed by his enemies (or peers, or other guys else), found a master, learned very good Kung Fu, and then revenged successfully. In fact the story was simple, but the director was very skillful at telling a convincing story.

But on the other side, the movie actually made another silly mistake: In order to highlight the glorious image of the male lead (Jaden Smith), the movie had characterized other children (especially all of the Chinese boys) an unbearable group: they were psychologically dark, cruel, ruthless and so mean. This contrast may make the male lead more shining, but it also made the whole movie too shallow and to make the ending of the movie (the conversion of the Chinese boy from bad to good) very unconvincing. I hate to say that the movie humiliated China, but its directing techniques need to improve much.

这个故事的内核其实是很传统的中国武侠片的拜师学艺的故事：小孩子被仇人（同龄人，或其他什么人）欺负，寻访名师，拜师学艺，练成绝世武功，然后复仇成功。故事其实很简单，导演的技巧确实很成熟，比较圆满地讲述了这个故事。

但这部片子实际上犯了另一个幼稚的错误：为了突出男主角（Jaden Smith）的光辉形象，其他的男孩子（尤其是中国男孩子）都被刻画得很不堪：心理阴暗，好勇斗狠，待人刻薄。这固然能够反衬男主角的高大，但也让整部片子流于单薄，而且片尾的转变显得很不可信。我不愿意说这是一部辱华影片，但这样的拍摄手法确实难逃嫌疑。

Performance impression：
Director: Harald Zwart
Stars: Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith, Taraji P. Henson