The Karate Kid (2010)

It’s strange how much of my life has been marked by the martial arts and martial arts cinema.  When I was a kid, I was first introduced to Asian cinema through the local Vietnamese owned movie house that would play every kind of movie from China to Vietnam (all with subtitles) but the movies that moved me the most were the ones with the loudest punch FX.  For me, every time I watched anything from Bruce Lee to Jackie Chan and everything in between I was engaged in the fight choreography as much as I was in the story.  When I got older, I used to drive down to Video Tokyo not to mention every Korean video store in the county looking for Jackie Chan bootlegs to watch.  To this day, I am still a bit of a snob about it.  I proudly wear this history on my sleeve reminding my friends that it was I that would introduce them to the latest and greatest Jackie Chan film long before Rumble in the Bronx was released in the States.  I even once had my friend Erick remark, “You do realize that we’re watching a Chinese movie with Korean subtitles and now they’re speaking English.  Don’t you find that weird?”  I did.  But then again, I embrace bad martial arts movies with not so much as an ounce of guilt.  Now that I’m older it’s strange to realize that my education and introduction into Asian cinema was very much indebted to the Kung Fu Theater of my youth. Without Enter the Dragon there would be no The Last Emperor.  Without Police Story there would be no Farewell My Concubine, Windstruck, My Sassy Girl…and well you get the idea.

But let’s get back to The Karate Kid starring Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita.  Now that was a movie that changed the game for me too.  It was the first time that I watched a film about martial arts that went completely against type.  It was a martial arts film that was centered on the drama of two souls displaced by tragedy in order to find solace in one another through the art of Karate, but also how Karate permeates every lesson – as it was said in the film, “You remember lesson about balance?  Lesson not just Karate only…lesson for whole life.  Whole life have balance…everything be better.”   So maybe I identified, not just because it was a film about underdogs, but I maybe I was also engaged in the Karate Kid because it was the first time in my memory that a martial arts film also had heart.  It had so much heart that I actually memorized the entire movie, quoting it from beginning to end.  And to this very day, I can’t get the lines of dialog out of my head.  The Karate Kid that was a game changer in cinema in its own right because it proved you didn’t have to completely disregard the story in order to enjoy it’s action.  Who didn’t get goose bumps in the last minute of the movie when Daniel Larusso raises his arms in the air, balanced precariously on one gimpy leg waiting for Johnny Lawrence to predictably run straight into the crane kick as the music swelled and culminated with Daniel screaming, “Hey!  Mister Miyagi!  We did it!  We did it!” The image of the proud Mister Miyagi smirking as the film fades to black is burned into my mind.  What a memorable moment, right?  It still gets me.

So fast forward to 2010 and the remake of The Karate Kid.  Would Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith deliver that same power and triumph that made Ralph Macchio a star?  The short answer is that it did.  If you haven’t seen it yet, go see it.  What follows are all the reasons why you should watch it.  But before you read further please don’t forget your manners and remember that you must ask for permission to enter.

What the new Karate Kid does very successfully is take that story crafted in the 80’s and breathe fresh life into it.  It’s not necessarily a shot for shot remake, mind you.  But it’s definitely a concept for concept remake.  This time the Daniel character, who is renamed Dre, is not just a fish out of water.  He is a fish in a different country.  If you watched Jaden Smith in the Pursuit of Happyness, you know that the kid can act, but what will be surprising to everyone else is that so can Jackie Chan.  This role fits him like a glove and he definitely makes it his own as the reserved Mr. Han. The story is predictable similar to the original. That isn’t a criticism. I think at times remakes often try too hard to be different. The new Karate Kid embraces the past and follows the same path of a bullied kid in a new environment who finds an unexpected mentor. This relationship, of course evolves as mentor and student both realize that they are able to learn from one another. There is romance, albeit the innocent affection of twelve year olds. But that is also touching and consistent with much of the spirit of this film. And as master and student forge a path of teaching/learning Kung Fu the story predictably also weaves its way towards the open Kung Fu tournament that we know is where Dre must learn to finally conquer all of his fears. So without giving anything else away, let’s just say that tournament is really what makes the film stand out and a worthy competitor to the original.

So what else works?  China works.  The filmmakers use the landscape, the Great Wall, The Forbidden City (complete with Chairman Mao image), Temples and Olympic facility in such a grandiose and cinematic way that you really get a sense of China’s historic and modern achievements.  I mentioned that this isn’t necessarily a shot for shot recreation of the original, but concept for concept this story does follow the original while still making it its own.  What doesn’t work so much?  They’re twelve, so there’s a brutality and an acrobatic ability that probably doesn’t play as realistic as I would have liked.  They’re not exactly performing with wires for most of it, but they’re not far from it – especially during the tournament scenes.  It’s a hard thing to swallow.  But that being said, it doesn’t detract so much from the film that it doesn’t make for an enjoyable film.  After all, today’s audience is definitely much savvier and expects a higher level of film when it comes down to it.

Now I’m not much for spoilers, so I won’t disappoint you this time either.  If you want to know the truth, the only thing that could use a change is the title.  We are, after all, in the new millennium and it’s weird to see a cultural insensitivity still coming out of the American film industry.  The film in China was released under the title The Kung Fu Kid. And even as I sat in the theater, I had to chuckle as students (probably sixth graders who were on their end of the year field trip) came waltzing into the theater wearing with their Japanese bandannas in preparation to see the Karate Kid. I’m not sure I can blame the teachers on this as the title would confuse anyone who was culturally unaware of some of the fundamental differences between the Japanese and Chinese cultures such as being on different land masses entirely.  But what can you do, right?  If you’re in Arizona I’m sure that even Asians get confused for being Mexican.  But despite all of this, I still highly recommend this film.  It’s as gripping as the original.  Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith deliver all the way to the end.

By Paul Stamat