We all know the story of The Karate Kid, and this remake of the 80's classic has been hyped, seemingly, to no end.Seemingly, I say, because the hype ends here.
As in...Right Here.
Hype on.
Hype off.
Look my blog! Always look my blog!
This time, the kid's mom follows a job from Detroit to Beijing. Yeah, China.
The rest of the original story line is followed pretty tightly: Kid sees Girl. Tougher kid sees Kid seeing Girl. Kids gets whipped. Kid gets whipped again...
Then along comes the mysterious Asian guy to mentor him and turn him into a karate champion...
La la la la.....
Issues:
• The title clearly states "Karate Kid", right? Then why is it all about Kung Fu?
• The Kid is supposed to be in middle school, around 12yrs old or something like that. All the rest of the kids look to be the appropriate age for the story line. Except for our hero, who looks to be 9yrs old. Maybe 10. But I'm not giving it anymore than that.
• Contrast that to The Girl. She looks like an early high schooler. Maybe 14, on the lower end? Seeing this Girl romantically attracted to this Kid is kinda creepy if you ask me.
• Gratuitous Great Walling. Why? The Great Wall has nothing to do with the story line. Repeat: nothing. They couldn't even bother to write it in, but they easily could have with a little creativity. Instead, they didn't bother. I guess the producers just thought, "Hey, it's China. Let's show the Kid doing
• Jackie Chan is no Miyagi. Although, to his credit, it's a different kind of role than he's used to. Miyagi had a joy about him; an inner peace. Chan's Mr. Han is rather worn and depressed; and less 'quippy'.
Kudos to Chan. Razzberries to the director.
This movie got tired quick and I couldn't wait for it to end. If you got kids, though, they will love it. I went at a time when the audience was filled with youngerlings, and they were having a good time of it.
7 comments:
Yeah I think I'll wait for DVD, if anything.
From the previews, I got the impression that Jayden Smith's rather impressive child-acting and Chan's darker interpretation of the character would carry my interest. Mind you, it's not enough interest for me to dish out 8 bucks for a ticket. That's my opinion. Interesting, isn't it?
How was the kid's acting? Apparently, his dad reads stuff like Plato's Republic to him, so he I take it he's at a higher level of development than most members of the NRA. I said "most" so let no one chew me out on that.
his acting was ok. he's just a kid,though.
Should have watched the A-Team instead. That was one fine summer action movie.
Re: the darkness of the Morita/Chan character...
I caught the original Karate Kid in the middle on TV sometime (relatively) recently, and before that had not watched it in probably 15+ years. There is a scene where Daniel finds Mr. Miyagi extremely drunk, noting (I think) his anniversary with his dead wife who died in a WWII internment camp (or something along those lines). This detail had completely escaped me the first dozen or so times I watched the movie as a kid.
I think the original Mr. Miyagi was a lot darker than most people remember. Does Jackie Chan have any similar backstory in this version?
Jackie Chan is in that, huh? Yeah, Chan is great (I guess, I'm not a big action fan), but I think I will agree with you that he's no Pat Morita. If I had kids (or nieces/nephews) I would take them, maybe, but as an adult, I'd rather watch the version from my childhood. I suppose they included Kung Fu because that is the Chinese art; karate is from Japan. But yes, in that case, it is silly to call the film 'The Karate Kid' - just for brand recognition.
brian: yes, mr han has a backstory that is similar, but also very different.
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