Karate Kid (2010)

[mpm74]

I find it funny that some reviewers praise Jackie's acting as if they are surprised by it. Kreeist, he's been acting in films as long as Pacino!

Good point. JC IS an awesome actor.

But the thing is, even if Pacino came out with a new movie that he was good in, I'd still say "Al Pacino is actually good in it!" The problem with these guys, mainly some of their current movies, is they no longer challenge themselves or pick their films wisely. All Al Pacino does is yell. All Jackie Chan does is act like his usual 'Rush Hour" fare.

Especially JC's Hollywood movies. But his role in KK was exceptionally really good, even for an established actor.

[Guest Yi-Long]

Good point. JC IS an awesome actor.

But the thing is, even if Pacino came out with a new movie that he was good in, I'd still say "Al Pacino is actually good in it!" The problem with these guys, mainly some of their current movies, is they no longer challenge themselves or pick their films wisely. All Al Pacino does is yell. All Jackie Chan does is act like his usual 'Rush Hour" fare.

Especially JC's Hollywood movies. But his role in KK was exceptionally really good, even for an established actor.

Well... TBH, even when Jackie tried 'serious acting' in his movies, it's been a bit hit&miss, like the over the top dramatic scenes in New Police Story,

I think Jet Li is a more 'natural' acting talent, but at least it's nice that Jackie is now in a movie that apparently will affect and impress a new generation.

I'm sad to hear about the editing and camera-movement during Jaden's fightscenes though. That stuff can really ruin a movie for me.

Are there at least some good trainingscenes and stuff?

[Neil Koch]

The training scenes are good. There's a nice new take on the "wax on wax off" bit. The sequence where Jackie takes Jaden to a monastery/temple to show him traditional kung fu was well done.

BTW, the movie took in $56 million over the weekend (over double what The A-Team made) making it Jackie's second best US opening weekend behind Rush Hour 2, which made $67 million.

[Guest Yi-Long]

The training scenes are good. There's a nice new take on the "wax on wax off" bit. The sequence where Jackie takes Jaden to a monastery/temple to show him traditional kung fu was well done.

BTW, the movie took in $56 million over the weekend (over double what The A-Team made) making it Jackie's second best US opening weekend behind Rush Hour 2, which made $67 million.

Thanks

Well, I was (surpringly) impressed by the trailers of The Karate Kid, when they came out, and it seems like a nice movie. Not so much a 'martial arts' movie like WE would have liked to see maybe (but neither was the original Karate Kid), but a movie about a kid becoming a better person and learning to take care of himself through martial arts and guidance of an older 'father figure'.

[mpm74]

The cum shots in a Peter North movie are good, but that doesn't make every one of his movies great.

How many of you guys own a copy of AVATAR? =D

Well, I was (surpringly) impressed by the trailers of The Karate Kid, when they came out, and it seems like a nice movie. Not so much a 'martial arts' movie like WE would have liked to see maybe (but neither was the original Karate Kid), but a movie about a kid becoming a better person and learning to take care of himself through martial arts and guidance of an older 'father figure'.

And the original wasn't?

I swear, one day they're gonna make a GODFATHER remake and everyone is going to bust a nut over it, and why, just because.

[Guest Yi-Long]

And the original wasn't?

Wan't what!?

The original was pretty much the same as this one: not a martial arts flick, but a movie about a kid growing up through martial arts.

If the original had been released today, we also would have moaned about it. Because we watched it as a kid, it has 'sentimental value' for is, and we love it for what it is/was. Just like a new generation will probably love this new version.

[mpm74]

But...

The pacing of the first film is perfect. Everything about it is (Daniel never really becomes an "expert") believable (sorta like the 1st Rocky). Ralph's acting is much better. You can tell what's going on during the fights. The story is ORIGINAL.

By the way, how come Will Smith's son and the rest of his classmates didn't get knife attacked by a crazy chinese guy? What the heck? I thought it was realistic?

(i'm being sarcastic btw)

And, I'm not using "more realistic" as an excuse to like the original. It's just better, man. The remake came out of Will Smith's ass. Period. If most movies are 10% art, and 90% for the money, then the Karate Kid remake is 100% business transaction.

Avatar. Karate Kid Remake. Armageddon. Transformers I and II. You can like one or two of these titles. But if you think all these movies are good, you better question your existence. I'm not joking.

[Guest Yi-Long]

But...

The pacing of the first film is perfect. Everything about it is (Daniel never really becomes an "expert") believable (sorta like the 1st Rocky). Ralph's acting is much better. You can tell what's going on during the fights. The story is ORIGINAL.

By the way, how come Will Smith's son and the rest of his classmates didn't get knife attacked by a crazy chinese guy? What the heck? I thought it was realistic?

(i'm being sarcastic btw)

And, I'm not using "more realistic" as an excuse to like the original. It's just better, man. The remake came out of Will Smith's ass. Period. If most movies are 10% art, and 90% for the money, then the Karate Kid remake is 100% business transaction.

Avatar. Karate Kid Remake. Armageddon. Transformers I and II. You can like one or two of these titles. But if you think all these movies are good, you better question your existence. I'm not joking.

I haven't seen the new KK movie yet. I haven't even seen Avatar yet, nor Tranformers, and Armageddon was the Bruce Willis/Ben Affleck flick? I've seen that one.

However, you watched and loved the Karate Kid when you were much younger. Now you're older, more cynical, probably a bit fatter and uglier, and you're watching a movie aimed primarly at kids/teens, while you're seeing an old washed-up Jackie Chan teaching a young spoilt brat Kung Fu.... so yeah, maybe your view on the movie will be a bit different as opposed to how it would have been if you had been 13 years old now and watching this kinda shit for the first time

I'm expecting it to be a decent modern-day version of The Karate Kid. I don't go in expecting anything great, I'm not expecting brilliant fights, or fantastic acting, or oscar-worthy storytelling. It's a movie aimed at teens, and I'm sure it will be amusing for the older generation as well. I'm not expecting a movie that scores a 9 or a 10, but I'm expecting a solid 7, IN THIS GENRE! (teen 'sports' movie).

They filmed it in China, the people actually speak chinese in the movie, it shows chinese kung fu and culture, etc etc. TBH, it's another step in the right direction.

[mpm74]

LOL!

Deculture!

I'm like the cop from The Godfather "Getting old...grouchy"...

[Guest Yi-Long]

LOL!

Deculture!

I'm like the cop from The Godfather "Getting old...grouchy"...

I've never seen The Godfather. Too old. Still waiting for a modern-day remake with Justin Bieber.

[mpm74]

LMAO! Nice.

[Bronx Rican]

This new "Godfather" will be about Yakuza, and it will star Rain. Or Taylor Lautner.

[Guest Yi-Long]

LMAO! Nice.

Just wait till the scene comes up where the movie-producer wakes up and finds Sarah Jessica Parker's head in his bed...

Oscar-material!

[Koyuki]

I saw KK last night, and I think it's rather well done. As mentioned above, it may not be the film that some here would like to have seen be made, but if you're willing to meet it on its own terms, it's a very good movie, and well worth a ticket for a theater showing.

One of the benefits of doing a note-by-note remake is you don't have to spend a lot of time worrying about what to shoot, you can concentrate on making the shots work together as a whole. Many movies are shot with lots of coverage and extra scenes, and assembled in the editing room later, with much of what was written and shot being left out completely (I recall a movie that was intended to be a musical, all the song and dance numbers were filmed, and then they decided the story worked best as a conventional film, and cut out all the music). With a proven template in the form of the original KK to work from, the filmmakers were able to work in a number of roundnesses, without worrying about them being cut apart later. As a theater designer/technician with some ties to film and video, I appreciated the matching dissolves and recurring bits as they went by.

On the con side, technically speaking, much of the movie appears to have been shot hand-held, without benefit of a steadi-cam rig. There's jumps and jitters, and the focus puller wasn't always able to keep up - some shots begin or end a lot softer than they should have, and depth of field was an issue at times. This is more annoying in the normal scenes, but becomes an asset in the fighting sequences.

As others have noted, the movie doesn't shoot the action so that the action is easily seen, thus some of the previous comments about not showing the kung fu properly. The filmmakers weren't interested in the shape of the punch so much as the force of the blow, so short clips of slow-mo impacts serve them well. And there are impacts - these kids aren't pulling punches (at least in the story) - they're bodyslamming opponents onto concrete, and kicking them once they're down.

The other weakness of the movie is, in a way, also a strength. The supporting actors appear, do what the plot requires, and fade away again, never getting fleshed out into full characters. This would be more disturbing if it didn't help the movie focus on Dre and Han. Their mentor/student relationship is the centerpiece and reason for being for the movie, and the other plot lines could only distract from it, although a little more interaction and fleshing out would have been nice. A few shots and lines make one think that the movie might take a supporting character in a certain direction, or lead to a certain type of scene, but these cues invariably get left behind and not followed up on. I haven't decided if that's good or bad (further discussion would constitute spoilers... perhaps another thread?).

Those looking for concise explanations of kung fu will be disappointed, there are no voiceover sermons on kung fu philosphy, ala the 'two tigers' training scene in 'Forbidden Kingdom'. What kung fu wisdom given is short bits nearly forced from Han by Dre, as Dre advances to the point of needing to hear them, which I think is a more natural way to present the thoughts, and perhaps a better way for the audience to absorb them. There is also next to no mention made of shapes or styles, with Han merely teaching 'hit him... don't let him hit you' kung fu.

Jaden Smith did well in the role, playing an initially obnoxious, modern young teenager (well, 12 year old) who finds a focus to his life through kung fu. Some other articles I saw suggested that he was interested in kung fu movies (and Jackie Chan films) before this project, so perhaps he'll stay with his training and we'll see him doing martial arts on film again someday. Chan does well as Han, although the character doesn't have enough of a progression during the movie to convince non-believers of his ability to act.

As for Hollywood cynicism, sure, the movie really should have been called 'Kung Fu Kid', and Jaden might not have been first pick if he hadn't been 'Will Smith's son', but producers will always make decisions based on what they think will sell the most tickets. Regardless of the title and nepotism, it's a good film. As for being an adapted remake, the same could be said for 'West Side Story' being a remake of 'Romeo and Juliet'... if you take a good story, and retell it in a different setting, chances are it's still a good story.

[AlbertV]

Dark Horizons has reported that there are plans for a Karate Kid sequel and writers are meeting with Sony Pictures executives to pitch ideas for Karate Kid 2.

Full story at Dark Horizons

[Koyuki]

Jaden and Jackie were on Lopez last night, and it was mentioned that Jaden has continued to train. They also claimed that Jaden had done all of his own stunts, but I wonder about the final move of the tournament.

[Neil Koch]

That was pretty obvious CGI tweaking.

[kungfusamurai]

Dark Horizons has reported that there are plans for a Karate Kid sequel and writers are meeting with Sony Pictures executives to pitch ideas for Karate Kid 2.

Full story at Dark Horizons

Will that one take place in Mr Miyagi's home country? Oh wait, they already did that. I guess it'll be back in America. Then the next one will feature a girl.

KFS

[Daigoro]

Everytime i think of this movie i cant help but laugh to myself, Jayden smith is so small! I suppose since the original had

a teen that the name of the title is more suited to a younger males role, but to tell you the truth the original brought out so

much in so many people. Everyone wanted to be the Karate Kid. I remember the Bonzai tree's etc, have to see it again

sometime! I have not really been keeping up with this thread but has anyone mentioned ''The Next Karate kid" starring

Hillary Swank.. I never had the opportunity to see that but now i am finally interested. LOL, took a long time.. who knew.

Question does anyone know if the film was written with "Jayden smith" in mind, he seems like an unlikely choice, but

then times have changed. If it was not written with him in mind, who were some of the other people considered for the role?

[Neil Koch]

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett were two of the producers, so it's probably safe to assume that the movie was made as a star vehicle for Jaden.

Even though I normally hate kid actors, I didn't really have any problem with him though. But the romance scenes seemed very awkward (and maybe a bit creepy) because he's too young.

[Chinatown Kid]

This remake seems ok and I don't have any hate toward Smith, for his age he does a good job and I'm a fan of Jackie for sure. But this film is just not in the same class as the original though, which I thought was a special and poignant little film. Now the sequels were another story though.....

[bamboo spear]

Man I had no idea the bad guy teacher was "Iron Monkey"! I thought he looked familiar. Too bad he didn't fight Jackie, but if they do make a sequel (which they've already expressed interest in), maybe it will start like Karate Kid 2, right after the tournament.

[OldPangYau]

I have to say, my expectations were "neutral" for this, but after going with a group of friends (half wanted to go, half were "meh"... including my gf and I), I actually enjoyed it. Jaden Smith actually has potential to be more than "Will Smith's son" and wasn't annoying like I thought he'd be. Plus, seeing Jackie do American comedy nowadays makes me cringe (the trailers for Spy Next Door made me want those two minutes of my life back... should've gone to concessions anytime it came on last year) so seeing him in a stritctly dramatic role was a step up for him... I think he needs to stick to it.

Now, aside from people having the "it's a remake, so we must automatically hate it" bias, it's not a bad movie. Sure, there are a couple of "disappearing" character/plot threads (What happened to the blonde kid? Did the girl get picked from the audition?) and the camerawork in the final fights got a little too damn shaky, but aside from that, there weren't many flaws.

In short, the film seemed to be a giant recipe for disaster (the thought of director of The Pink Panther 2 was enough to make me cringe), but it turned out rather well. But that's just my humble opinion... and despite enjoying it, I still would've rather seen Toy Story 3 last night

[Guest Yi-Long]

Man I had no idea the bad guy teacher was "Iron Monkey"! I thought he looked familiar. Too bad he didn't fight Jackie, but if they do make a sequel (which they've already expressed interest in), maybe it will start like Karate Kid 2, right after the tournament.

Iron Monkey doesn't fight Jackie?

I guess they cut some some scenes out, considering these pics were posted 6 months orso ago in the Karate Kid thread

(Yeah Jeff, you numskull*, there already was a Karate Kid thread and you went ahead and made another one and fucked the whole forum thus the whole internet up!!! I hope you're proud of yourself(!) )

http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showpost.php?p=108615&postcount=23

Seems like they're in a little Ikea-fight.

[mpm74]

Yi Long, what do you mean "Numskull"?

Dude, just ordered Happy Together on Blu-ray. See how much Karate Kid screwed me up? Now I'm going back to the motherland of movies...

Never seen Happy Together, hopefully it's good.