Number Rolled: 89
Movie Name/Year:
The Karate Kid (2010)
Genre: Family
Drama
Length: 140
minutes
Rating: PG
Director: Harald
Zwart
Writer:
Christopher Murphy, Robert Mark Kamen
Actors: Jaden
Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson, Wenwen Han, Rongguang Yu, Zhensu Wu,
Zhiheng Wang, Zhenwei Wang, Shijia Lu, Youyi (there’s some discrepancies
between my sources on the spelling of this name, it might be Yi) Zhao
This, actually, wasn’t the first time I had seen this movie.
As a bona-fide child of the 80’s, I was in love with the old Karate Kid movies.
First Daniel Larusso moved and found a buddy and karate sensei in Mr. Miyagi,
then they took the trip to Okinawa, followed by Daniel buying the Bonsai shop
for him and finally, Mr. Miyagi found a new student in Julie Pierce – I was
there for it all. Needless to say, I went to see this one in the theater when
it came out.
I was nervous as all hell though. I both dreaded the remake and
wished I would see the old “wax on, wax off” scene and the final uber kick from
when Daniel hurt his knee. Why did I dread it? Because if they had been there,
it would have been the same movie and, there-fore, there would be no point for
it.
Now, don’t get me wrong, the plot was the same thing, just
with a different script and different actors. With a younger main character,
you also find it hitting a younger demographic. If I were thirteen though? I’d
be pretending to be a kung-fu master all over my school halls because of this
movie. However, there was plenty in there for those of us coming in from the
old movies, enough to keep us entertained. The signature scenes were there, but
they had different content which made them seem a bit fresher without losing
the message for those new to the story.
I’m a huge fan of Jackie Chan. I love him in just about
everything he does, even if I’m not so fond of the movie. This movie was no
exception. He fit into that part so easily I almost wondered if he just goes
around in his off time helping out bullied little kids and teaching them
kung-fu.
As for Jaden Smith, this was the first movie I saw him in
and, I have to say it, I can see his father in him. I hope he doesn’t just get
labeled as some kid riding on his father’s coat-tail though, because he’s got
some serious talent.
There were some minor issues I had with the movie, nothing
really worth mentioning here – except one. It seems so minor and stupid, but I
can’t seem to get over it. For a movie called “The Karate Kid” there was a
distinct and total lack of karate. It was Kung-fu. There’s a difference. I
shall here-after refer to this movie as “The Kung-fu Kid.”
Overall Opinion – 4/5
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