The Karate Kid (2010)

One hundred forty minutes is a long time to spend watching a kid learn to hang up his jacket. This remake stretches every beat of the old story, and the bullies in Beijing are so relentlessly mean they feel less like kids than a squad of tiny movie villains. The crush subplot with Meiying is sweet but slows everything down. Taraji P. Henson gets a few worried-mom scenes and little else. Then there’s Jackie Chan. He plays Mr. Han as a quiet, sad maintenance man, and for once he’s acting more than flipping. A late-night scene involving an old car shows a side of him that most of his action movies never asked for. Jaden Smith commits to every training montage. It made $359.1 million worldwide on a reported $40M. A 6.2 because Chan gives the remake a soul and the running time drains it. $64.06 says you hang your jacket on a hook tonight, take it down, and hang it up again just to see if you learned anything.

What works: Jackie Chan’s quiet, grieving Mr. Han, Jaden Smith’s total commitment, and gorgeous trips through Beijing and the mountains.

What doesn’t: At 140 minutes it drags, the bullies are cartoonishly cruel, and the romance subplot stalls the training story.

Who it’s for: Families with kids around Dre’s age, and Jackie Chan fans curious to see him play it quiet.