The Karate Kid

Jaden Smith does a great job.The presence of a legend Jackie Chan does not bother him at all and the kid proves he is a worthy son to Will Smith.

The kid plays Dre who lands up in Beijing with his mom after his father's death.

The first day in Beijing, results in a visit to a park, a crush in true Hindi film fashion and a beating up by the local teen bully.

School has surprises as both the girl practicing for a violin concert and the bully training for a Wushu tournament study there.

Jackie Chan works as Han the maintenance man in the apartment block where Dre and his mother stay.

One day Han saves Dre from the bullies. A few scenes later the trainer of the bullies challenges the kid to participate in the Wushu tournament.

Training starts and Dre is disappointed when Han asks him to remove his jacket, put it down, pick it and put it on a hanger.

This continues for a while along with some friendly banter between Dre and the Chinese girl.

The training sequences are well shot. A journey to the Dragon Well atop a mountain looks good. Jaden has worked hard for this role and his sparring sessions with Jackie Chan are a treat to watch.The tournament climax is predictable and executed well. Dre wins it by beating the bully. The bully and his compatriots become the students of Jackie Chan to learn Kung Fu under him.

Jaden has a great future and is sure to do well.

Rating ***/5.

A Triple Movie Treat

Saw three Malayalam movies over the weekend:


Ividam Swargam Aaanu

The Mohanlal starrer was slow to pick up its pace. Directed by Roshan Andrews, the movie is about a farmer's fight against the land mafia.

Innocent, Thilakan, Srinivasan, Jagathy and all the usual stars were there.

With three heroines, Laksmi Gopalaswamy (bank manager), Priyanka (TV reporter) and Lakshmi Rai (lawyer), Lalettan has a tough choice to make.

Lalu Alex as the scheming land-grabber - Aluva Chandy does a splendid job.

The last thirty minutes remind one of Khosla ka Ghosla.

Good movie to be enjoyed with the whole family.

Nayakan

No not the Kamal starrer. This movie surprisingly went unnoticed. Stylishly shot with an awesome performance by Indrajith and Thilakan, this is a revenge saga with a difference.

Indrajith is a Kathakali dancer. Thilakan plays Vincent Karanavar, an old don kind of person, a protector of a small community of people living in an old part of Kochi.

Indrajith's father and sister are killed by Siddique a magician who became a rich political kingmaker. He is beaten by Siddique's goons and left to die.

Thilakan rescues him and plans a revenge saga.

The movie unfolds at a quick pace and some great shots of Malaysia and a twist in the climax increase the suspense.


Kerala Cafe

This collection of ten short movies produced by Ranjit uniting ten of the most popular directors in Malayalam cinema is a great effort.

This movie will be reviewed in a separate post.

Spain Win

The Orange Squad failed to win as a goal by Inivestas in the 116th minute ensured that Spain lifted the FIFA World Cup 2010 title.

Heart-break for Holland.

The octopus Paul was right again.

Spanish Armada Sinks German Juggernaut

The psychic octopus had predicted a Spanish victory.

True to the predictions a late goal by Spain helped them end Germany's World Cup dreams.

An exciting clash is on the cards on Sunday when Spain take on Netherlands in the finals.

Let us see who wins!

I will be rooting for Netherlands, but I have a strange feeling that David Villa & Co. might take the glittering Jules Rimet Trophy to Spain this year.

If you look at my predictions made in the post dated June 11, they match the finalists.

Let us see what happens.

World Cup Updates

Netherlands make it to the finals.

Will the German brigade win or will the Spanish Armada emerge victorious?