Misty-eyed trips to the cinema seem to be all the rage these days if you are a 30-something movie-goer, as Hollywood turns its attentions to the 1980s for its latest plundering of the filmic back catalogue.

With the A-Team on the way next month, this shows no signs of letting up anytime soon, with sequels to Tron and Wall Street set to follow in the winter months.

But first out of the blocks in terms of summer fare is The Karate Kid, a 're-imagining' (as studios like to call these things) of the 1984 Ralph Macchio/Pat Morita classic, now served up for a modern audience.

Replacing the Macchio/Morita tandem this time round is the link-up between the precocious Jaden Smith (offspring of Hollywood royalty Will and Jada Pinkett Smith) and legendary martial arts maestro Jackie Chan.

Directed by Harald Zwart, the 2010 version seeks to tread a very fine balance between homage and replication, with numerous scenes nodding furiously at its predecessor, only to ever-so slightly twist things.

A great example comes early on, when Smith, having just moved to Beijing with his mum, wanders into the run-down office of maintenance man Mr Han (Chan) – Han is attempting to catch a fly with chopsticks (as in the original), but ends up seeing off the bug with a fly-swatter – a nice touch.

Electing to switch the action from the US to China is a neat move, although there is precious little in terms of political or intellectual stimulation suggested by the culture clash.

What you do get however, is a succession of 'picture-postcard' moments as Chan and Smith visit the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Olympic Stadium and other notable Beijing landmarks.

The film-makers are also canny enough to never actually show Smith sat in one of his classes (which would have been interesting considering there are numerous references made about his struggle to grasp the language) – instead we get to see him arriving at school, leaving school and various lunchtime scenes – very clever.

For those who have fond memories of the original (like myself) this version almost acts as a checklist at times: misfit gets to like a local schoolgirl (check), gets beaten up by a gang of local kung fu kids (check), who happen to be coached by an evil sensei (check) and then turns to another misfit to learn to protect himself (check) before entering a martial arts tournament to try and prove himself (check).

All of which makes the decision to have Smith learning kung fu and not karate (he isn't in fact even a 'Karate Kid' at all) somewhat mystifying, as is the renaming of the iconic Mr Miyagi as Mr Han.

But these are minor quibbles, and it was always likely that the entire film would boil down to the relationship, and acting, of the two leads.

Having a distinct dislike of nepotism, and having been severely irritated by his turn in The Day The Earth Stood Still, I approached this with real concern.

But I have to admit that the youngster shows some real acting chops in this one, and enjoys some good chemistry with Chan.

For Chan it is the chance to show a different side to his ability, with a number of emotional scenes along with the requisite chop-socky stuff, and he proves a wise casting choice.

The film is far from perfect – there is way too much cheesy dialogue on show and the mammoth running time (near 2 ½ hours) seems somewhat bizarre for a movie plainly marketed at youngsters and families.

But in terms of uplifting entertainment value this is a more-than adequate addition to a somewhat lacklustre summer to date.