There’s something surprising and refreshing about Harold Zwart’s ‘Karate Kid’ remake. Something I didn’t really expect. Despite the fact the title character is several years younger than Daniel from the original, and he’s learning kung-fu, not karate, this new film isn’t just a faithful remake, it’s an overall improvement on the first film. Yea, I know. I just put a target on my head as far as most children of the 80’s are concerned.

Here’s the thing, though. Despite Pat Morita’s sweet and endearing performance, and the appeal of the overall story, John G. Avidsen’s 1984 version is a rather clunky film. Macchio is never completely convincing as a harried youth who goes martial arts warrior by the end. His chemistry with Morita is there, but there’s almost none of it when it comes to his relationship with Elisabeth Shue. Martin Kove’s villain is about as obvious as they come, and the movie is painting everything in extremely broad strokes.

Yes, I still find it effective overall. It’s hard not to when you have such an appealing hook and the emotional thrust of Miyagi, the handyman who isn’t just teaching Daniel-san how to fight, but how to live and stand on his own. So, it makes sense when the new version grabs Avidsen’s structure and the central relationship between martial arts master and young boy, and refines it into a story that has all of the emotional beats of the original, but seriously streamlines the cheese.

Jaden Smith is Dre Parker, a kid from Chicago who moves with his mom (Taraji P. Henson) to China where he becomes the target of bullies who terrorize him with martial arts. Making Dre a good bit younger than Macchio in the first picture seems like a strange choice, but it actually ups the impact of the fight scenes instead of diminishing them. Here, when Smith is getting his butt kicked, it looks like it legitimately hurts, and because of his size, Smith has a harder job of making us believe that Dre would ever be capable of fighting back at all. Here, he gives Dre a simple and earnest desire to grow-up and away from the things he can’t control, and I thought his pluck was convincing.

Enter Mr. Han, the rumpled maintenance man who teaches Dre the art of kung-fu, and ultimately how to stand up for himself and those things he believes in. Again, the script has made its job more difficult, because with Dre so young, there’s the issue that he hasn’t exactly discovered what it is he’s fighting for, outside of not taking another beating. In this, way Chan’s Han has an even harder job than Morita’s Miyagi; he’s got to make the relationship convincing enough that we would buy a motivation for Han training a kid this young.

To Jackie’s credit, he nails the role and I personally found his character even more compelling and poignant than Miyagi, although that’s no slight on Morita (who was nominated for an Oscar in 84 for the performance). In truth, it’s a very different approach to the character. Han isn’t a wise old man who is content in what he knows and where he is. There’s sadness and brokenness to his character that actually resonates despite the rather predictable way the screenplay handles it. Chan is a lovable performer, but usually in American films he’s relegated to behaving dopey because that’s what audiences expect from him. He reigns in his charisma and his versatility and replaces them with uncertainty and vulnerability, until of course, the kung-fu comes out. In many ways, just as the original film was Morita’s show, the bulk of this one works because of Jackie and I think it’s easily the best dramatic work he’s  done. His chemistry with Smith is strong, and he really sells the back story that the writers have saddled him with. He takes what would be contrivance and makes it work in his favor.

The kung-fu itself is really one of the film’s improvements over the original. All of it looks plausible, and there’s an immediacy and impact to the tournaments that you can feel in your guts. Chan’s style and form, as always, are flawless, but he’s practicing restraint and performance in his technique, and when he’s fighting a gaggle of 13 year olds, it’s not as odd as it would seem to watch him take them down.

The decision to move the film to China is also a good one and it’s probably the best way this new film distinguishes itself from its predecessor. The cinematography is excellent, and there’s a travelogue feel too much of the imagery and footage. This is just a superficial glance at China the country, but thematically it adds a grander sensibility to the movie’s story of renewal and dedication. The technical credits are outstanding, and the seams here are few.

If Karate Kid has a flaw that keeps me from being completely enthusiastic about it, it would be the film’s refusal to pair itself down to a manageable length. This movie clocks in at around 2 and a half hours, and even though very little of it is boring –by the time we reach the tournament we don’t care so much—there’s some obvious sag in the middle sections and in the tacked on relationship between Dre and Meiying. In an effort to cover all their bases, the filmmakers may have packed the film too full, and it loses just a tad of the lithe simplicity of the original.

At the end of the day though, Karate Kid delivers both entertaining thrills and emotional wallop, and its likely to inspire younger audience members to pursue the martial arts. Very rarely can it be said that a remake turns out to be worth the time and effort poured into it. Karate Kid is that welcome exception to the rule.

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Although it was reported that Brad Bird was in final negotiations to direct M:I 4 a while ago, that news has now been confirmed by Tom Cruise, in an interview with Empire.

In June, it was announced that J.J. Abrams and Tom Cruise had an idea for a fourth installment. Abrams wrote an outline and hired Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec, of Alias, to pen the screenplay. After it was announced that he would not be directing (apparently he was busy on something else), possible directors included Edgar Wright, Ruben Fleischer, and Brad Bird.

Well, Bird has officially signed on in what will be his live-action directing debut. His previous animated work includes The Incredibles and Ratatouille with Pixar and The Iron Giant, all among the best animated films ever. After working on getting his project 1906, about the San Francisco earthquake, off the ground at Warner Bros., the studio balked at the $200 million price tag, forcing him to rework the script.

Now, at first this upcoming film was considered a “reboot” but I’m not entirely sure what that means if Cruise is returning as Ethan Hunt (which was confirmed last October). Maybe the movie is a set-up for a new star? Anyway, I loved the first Mission: Impossible, loathed the second (that film made me sick — I’m not kidding), but then the third one came back in a huge way. Hopefully, the super-talented Bird can continue this streak and deliver an awesome spy film.

(By the way, that image of Bird is ridiculously high resolution, so if you want a poster of him or something, now is your chance.)

Tomorrow, on Earth Day, Avatar will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray. However, you still have a chance to see the film on the big screen. In an interview with the LA Times, James Cameron revealed his plans for an Avatar re-release as well as a sequel.

First, Cameron said that Weta is working on an additional six minutes, which will be added to the movie for a theatrical re-release this August. He added:

“It’ll be interesting because it’ll be on DVD by then, but I think “Avatar” is kind of a unique category where people are enjoying the unique theatrical experience even though they may have seen it on the small screen. They want to have that immersive, transportive experience.”

He went on to compare the film to 2001: A Space Odyssey, which is a little pretentious, but I understand his point. The number of movies that could be successful during a second run in this economy is very low, but I think Avatar has a lot of potential, both from people that somehow missed the movie the first time around, as well as those of us who want to return to the experience again.

Cameron also discussed his ideas for Avatar 2: “Part of my focus in the second film is in creating a different environment – a different setting within Pandora. And I’m going to be focusing on the ocean on Pandora, which will be equally rich and diverse and crazy and imaginative, but it just won’t be a rain forest. I’m not saying we won’t see what we’ve already seen; we’ll see more of that as well.”

The director said that production should run much more smoothly the second time around, so we will be back on Pandora sometime in the near future. However, being a science fiction fan, I’m more excited to see more of the space setting that was established at the very beginning of Avatar. Well, Cameron stated that the third film will focus more on the Alpha Centauri AB System that includes Pandora.

In any case, I don’t see the need for an Avatar sequel. I’ve always believed that a movie should stand alone, unless the story calls for a continuation. However, I understand that a series is inevitable after such an enormous success and I trust Cameron will do it his way and make another breathtaking movie.

When Albert C. Barnes died in 1951, he left behind an extraordinary collection of almost 800 paintings, including 181 Renoirs, 69 Cézannes, 59 Matisses, as well as several Van Goghs. Today, the collection is valued in the billions, as many of the paintings are invaluable pieces of modern art. During his lifetime, the Barnes Collection rested in a building in Lower Merion, PA. However, after his death the art has been mired in controversy.

The Art of the Steal, which plays this weekend at Theatre N in Wilmington (click here for showtimes), is a documentary about the fight to prevent the Barnes from being transported to Center City, Philadelphia, a mere 15-minute drive away.

The film touches on the politics, corruption, and greed which accompanied the move. The problem is that in Mr. Barnes’ will he expressly forbade his collection from moving from where he placed it. He had carefully constructed an intimate place for his art to reside and wished to preserve that aspect of learning and culture which he had established. However, in the 1990s, many powerful people desired to move the precious artwork into Philadelphia.

Going into more detail would only diminish the film’s effect. The Art of the Steal is an extremely well-crafted documentary. It takes a seemingly dull, legally confusing tale and engages the audience by telling a story.

That is the heart of filmmaking – storytelling. Although traditionally documentaries have remained dull and purely informative, they can also become great films by telling a story. We have seen this more and more often in recent years, with movies such as An Inconvenient Truth and this year’s The Cove.

Director Don Argott skillfully tells a story through old-fashioned ways (interviews, archival pictures, you know – typical documentary fare) but his skill really shines through. Rather than being dull talking heads, the interviews are framed excellently, but it isn’t distracting, and other visual cues (such as scene titles every once-in-a-while) pull you into the story.

Now, some have argued that the film is too subjective, including Bernard C. Watson, head of the Barnes Foundation, who wrote a scathing editorial on the film. The film definitely has a stance, but the facts are represented truthfully, and much effort was made to keep the movie from becoming too one-sided. The fact remains that most of the opposition to the film declined to be interviewed for it.

As a film, The Art of the Steal succeeds both in telling a story and defending an argument. I had never heard of the Barnes Collection, but I came out of the film with strong feelings about the film’s subject matter. Whether you have a personal investment in the story or not, this is a fantastic documentary.

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

On Friday night fans at the South By Southwest festival in Austin, TX were treated to two trailers and one scene from the upcoming film, Predators. Produced by Robert Rodriguez, the film is a sequel to the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film and stars Adrien Brody as Royce, a mercenary and leader of a group of warriors who come to realize that they have been brought to an alien planet as prey. The hunters become the hunted.

After the screening, Rodriguez hosted a live Q&A. While shying away from revealing any more plot details, concept art from the film was shown, as well as a working Predator head prop. During the discussion, Rodriguez said that he has no intention to release the film in 3D and he also promised that, “This would be the real sequel.”

On Saturday, Rodriguez, director Nimród Antal, and star Adrien Brody, sat down with the press for a short interview. Antal said that he wants focus on “the hunt” — the element that made the original work so well. He also said he put “a lot of thought into mood and tone” and vowed to keep the monster in the shadows for as long as possible.

Hopefully, Predators proves to be a return to the suspense of the original. There is a good chance it will, too, as the movie seems to be heavily influenced by “The Most Dangerous Game,” the famous 1924 short story by Richard Connell in which a hunter is hunted on a mysterious island.

Missed the footage at SXSW? Watch the sneak peek over at the official Predators site and keep an eye out for the trailer, which drops March 18th.

Predators hits theaters July 9th.

Forgive me for the title — no, the inevitable Transformers 3 will (most definitely) have nothing to do with The Nightmare on Elm Street.

Nor will it have anything to do with J.J. Abram’s buddies Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who scripted Star Trek and worked on the first two Transformers films, but won’t be returning for Michael Bay’s third rampage.

Orci has direct contact with /Film on their forums, and he previously noted that it was “Time for fresh blood … the main reason we would move on is because we risk getting stale and comfortable. If you only sing one song for too long, you miss the opportunity to sing news songs. We’ll see.”

Now, the third film, slated for a release in Summer 2011, will be scripted by Ehren Kruger, who also worked on Revenge of the Fallen, as well as Blood and Chocolate and Reindeer Games. While this might seem like a serious downgrade from Orci and Kurtzman, I think it’s important to remember that Transformers 2 suffered from the same problem that hindered Spiderman 3: overcomplication.

Perhaps reducing the amount of writers on deck will lead to a more refined, streamlined, explosion-ridden experience than the last outing. Whatever the case, we’ll know soon — Optimus Prime will be rolling out again in two short years.

The good people of SideReel have got fang bangers on their minds. No, its not anything particularly dirty, but the overall lore of vampires has completely enveloped them. What does this mean exactly? This means the sudden creation of the Ultimate Vampire Face-Off, the blood sucking film and TV version of the NCAA bracket. From popular films such as Interview with the Vampire and Twilight all the way down to HBO’s True Blood and the cult favorite Moonlight, its time for these vampire hunks to duke it out.

To vote, please comment with the names of the 8 vampires that you believe would emerge victorious in the first 8 match-ups. To do so, please click on this link here.