As much as my former seven year old self would hate me for saying it, the original Karate Kid was a bit of a cheesefest, an enjoyable cheesefest, but nothing worthy of the crazed animosity this remake is receiving from some people, I’m not too mad on the remake myself but meh, it’s a kids film, the trailer looked half decent as well, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

12-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) could’ve been the most popular kid in Detroit, but his mother’s latest career move has landed him in China. Dre immediately falls for his classmate Mei Ying—and the feeling is mutual—but cultural differences make such a friendship impossible. Even worse, Dre’s feelings make an enemy of the class bully, and kung fu prodigy, Cheng. With no friends in a strange land, Dre has nowhere to turn but maintenance man Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), who is secretly a master of kung fu. As Han teaches Dre that kung fu is not about punches and parries, but maturity and calm, Dre realizes that facing down the bullies will be the fight of his life.The Karate Kid stars Jaden Smith as Dre, Jackie Chan as Mr Han and is directed by Harald Zwart.

I really hope this isn’t as a bad as I think it will be and it doesn’t ruin one of my favorite films from my childhood, nostalgia does cloud our opinions though, if I remember the film rightly it seems kind of cheesey to me now, but as a kid I remember practising that kick in my back garden for days! The Karate Kid is not meant to be a remake it “will borrow elements of the original plot, wherein a bullied youth learns to stand up for himself with the help of an eccentric mentor.”

Directed by Harald Zwart (The Pink Panther 2) and written by Chris Murphy and Steven Conrad (The Pursuit of Happyness). The Karate Kid will star Jaden Smith (Will Smith’s son) as Dre, a skateboarding video game buff who is forced to move to China after his single mother (Taraji P. Henson) is forced to transfer to the China for work. Of course, unable to speak Chinese, Dre finds it hard to settle in, and gets beat up by the local bully. Jackie Chan plays Mr. Han (the Mr. Miyagi character), a maintenance man who spots Dre’s black-eye and offers to teach him both martial arts and Chinese, so he can defend against the students of Li Quan Ha’s Fighting dragon school of Kung-Fu.

The Karate Kid is in cinemas June 11th 2010