The Karate Kid (2010 film)

The Karate Kid
File:Karate Kid 2010.jpg Teaser poster
Directed by	Harald Zwart
Written by	Screenplay: Christopher Murphey Story: Robert Mark Kamen
Produced by	Jerry Weintraub Will Smith Jada Pinkett Smith James Lassiter Ken Stovitz
Starring	Jackie Chan Jaden Smith Taraji P. Henson
Cinematography	Roger Pratt
Edited by	Kevin Stermer
Music by	James Horner
Production companies	Overbrook Entertainment JW Productions China Film Group
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	June 11, 2010 (2010-06-11)
Running time	140 minutes
Countries	United States China
Budget	$40 million
Box office	$83,640,300

The Karate Kid, known as The Kung Fu Kid in China and Best Kid in Japan and South Korea, is a 2010 martial arts remake of the 1984 film of the same name. Directed by Harald Zwart, produced by Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, the remake stars Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith. Principal photography for the film took place in Beijing, China; filming began around July 2009 and ended on October 16, 2009. The Karate Kid was released theatrically in the United States on June 11, 2010.

The plot concerns a 12-year-old boy from Detroit who moves to China with his mother and incurs the wrath of the neighborhood bully. He makes an unlikely ally in the form of his aging maintenance man, Mr. Han, a kung fu master who teaches him the secrets to self-defense.

Plot

12-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) and his mother (Taraji P. Henson) arrive in Beijing from Detroit to start a new life. Dre develops a crush on a young violinist, Mei Ying, who reciprocates his attention, but Mei Ying's classmate Cheng, a kung fu prodigy whose family is close to Mei Ying's, attempts to keep them apart by beating Dre, and later harassing and humiliating him in and around school. During a particularly brutal beating by Cheng and his friends, the kindly maintenance man of Dre's building, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), comes to Dre's aid, revealing himself as a kung fu master who adeptly dispatches Dre's tormentors.

After Han mends Dre's injuries using fire cupping, they go to Cheng's teacher, Master Li, to attempt to make peace, but the brutal Li, who teaches his students to show no mercy to their enemies, challenges Dre to a fight with Cheng. When Han declines, Li threatens him, saying that they will not be allowed to leave his school unless either Dre or Han himself fights. Han acquiesces, but insists the fight take place at an upcoming tournament, and that Li's students leave Dre alone until the tournament. The amused Li agrees.

Han begins training Dre, but Dre is frustrated that Han merely has Dre spend hours taking off his jacket, hanging it up, dropping it, and then putting it back on again. After days of this, Dre refuses to continue, until Han explains to him that the repetitive arm movements in question were Han's method of teaching Dre defensive block and strike techniques, which Dre is now able to display instinctively when prompted by Han's mock attacks. Han emphasizes that the movements Dre is learning apply to life in general, and that serenity and maturity, not punches and power, are the true keys to mastering the martial arts. During one lesson in the Wudang Mountains, Dre notices a female kung fu practitioner (Michelle Yeoh, in an uncredited cameo) copying the movements of a cobra before her, but Han informs him that it was the cobra that was imitating the woman, as in a mirror reflection. Dre wants Han to teach him this technique, which includes linking Han's hand and feet to Dre's via bamboo shafts while practicing their forms, but Dre's subsequent attempt to use this reflection technique on his mother is unsuccessful.

As Dre's friendship with Mei Ying continues, she agrees to attend Dre's tournament, and does Dre her upcoming recital. After sharing a kiss at an outdoor festival, Dre persuades Mei Ying to cut school for a day of fun, but when she is nearly late for her violin recital, which has been rescheduled for that day, Mei tells him that her parents have deemed him a bad influence, and forbid her from spending any more time with him.

When Dre finds Han drunk and despondent, he learns that it is the anniversary of his wife and son's deaths, which occurred years ago when he lost control of his car while arguing with his wife. Dre reminds Han that one of his lessons was in perseverance, and that Han needs to heal from his loss, and tries to help him do so. Han then assists Dre in writing a note of apology to Mei Ying's father, who, impressed, allows Mei to attend the tournament.

At the tournament, the underconfident Dre is slow to achieve parity with his opponents, but soon begins to best them, and advances to the semifinals, as does Cheng, who violently finishes off his opponents. Dre eventually comes up against Master Li's students, in particular a classmate of Cheng who is instructed by Master Li to break Dre's leg. When his student insists that he can beat Dre, Master Li sternly tells him that he doesn't want him beaten, but broken. During the match, Li's student delivers a devastating kick to Dre's leg, along with a series of brutal follow-up punches. Although Li's student is disqualified for his illegal strikes, Dre is incapacitated, which means Cheng will win by default.

Despite Han's insistence that he has earned respect for his performance in the tournament, and that he needs to learn when to walk away from a fight, Dre convinces Han to use his fire cupping technique to mend his leg, in order to see the tournament to the end. Dre returns to the arena, where he confronts Cheng. Dre delivers impressive blows, but Cheng counters with a debilitating strike to Dre's already injured leg. Dre struggles to get up, and adopts the one-legged form he first learned from the woman on the mountain, attempting to use the reflection technique to manipulate Cheng's movements. Cheng charges Dre, but Dre flips, and catches Cheng with a kick to his head, winning the tournament, along with the respect of Cheng and his classmates, both for himself and Mr.Han.

Cast

• Jackie Chan as Mr. Han, the maintenance man who teaches Dre kung fu.
• Jaden Smith as Dre Parker, the protagonist of the film. He is initially shy and timid, but with Mr. Han's help, he becomes more confident and even earns the respect of the other characters.
• Taraji P. Henson as Sherry Parker, Dre's mother
• Zhenwei Wang as Cheng, the school bully and the film's main antagonist.
• Yu Rongguang as Master Li, a kung fu teacher who instructs his students to be merciless towards their enemies.
• Wen Wen Han as Mei Ying, Dre's crush who quickly befriends him.
• Ming Xu as Bao
• Ji Wang as Mrs. Po, the principal of Dre's new school.
• Yi Zhao as Zhuang
• Tess Liu as History Teacher
• Harry Van Gorkum as Music Instructor
• Luke Carberry as Harry, a boy who also befriends Dre.
• Michelle Yeoh as Woman with the cobra (uncredited cameo)

Development

On November 10, 2008, Variety reported that work on a Karate Kid remake had begun. Variety stated that the new film, to be produced by Will Smith, "has been refashioned as a star vehicle for Jaden Smith" and that it would "borrow elements from the original plot, wherein a bullied youth learns to stand up for himself with the help of an eccentric mentor." On June 22, 2009, Jackie Chan told a Los Angeles Chinatown concert crowd that he was leaving for Beijing to film the remake as Jaden Smith's teacher.

The film contains homages to the original film, including a variation on the famous fly catching scene in which Chan's character ends up swatting it instead of using chopsticks; the theatrical trailer shows this scene with the original film's theme "You're the Best" playing.

Martial arts

Unlike its 1984 counterpart of the same name, the 2010 remake, despite its title, does not feature karate, which is from Okinawa, but focuses on the main character learning kung fu in China. Allegations of cultural ignorance and potential racism have resulted from the film's title as the lack of distinction between Japanese and Chinese culture demonstrates deindividuation. Chan has told interviewers that film cast members have been referring to the film as the Kung Fu Kid, and he believes the film will only be called The Karate Kid in America, and The Kung Fu Kid in Asia. Despite this, the film will be released under the original title in Asian countries, except People's Republic of China, Japan and South Korea.

Theme song

The official theme song is "Never Say Never", a song written by Adam Messinger, Nasri Atweh, Justin Bieber, Thaddis Harrell, Jaden Smith, and Omarr Rambert, and produced by The Messengers. It is performed by Justin Bieber and Jaden Smith. The music video was released on May 31, 2010.

"Remember the Name" by Fort Minor was used in the trailer to promote the movie.

The song "Hip Song" by Rain is used for promotion in the Asian countries and it appeared in the trailer. The music video was released on May 22, 2010.

Release and reception

Critical reception

The Karate Kid has received generally positive reviews. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 70% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 138 reviews, with an average score of 6.3/10. Metacritic, another review aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 61 based on 36 reviews from mainstream critics.

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times rated the film three out of four. She noted that Jaden Smith "proves that he's no mere beneficiary of dynastic largesse. Somber, self-contained and somehow believable as a kid for whom things don't come easily, he never conveys the sense that he's desperate to be liked. 'The Karate Kid' winds up being so likable itself" Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it a positive review, rating the film three and a half out of four stars, and calling it "a lovely and well-made film that stands on its own feet". Claudia Puig of USA Today and Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly each rated the film a 'B', stating ”the chemistry between Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan grounds the movie, imbuing it with sincerity and poignance” and that the film is "fun and believable."

Some critics took notice that the film's characters are much younger than in the original film; they also took notice of the filmmakers' sometimes unrealistic and inappropriate characterizations. Simon Abrams of Slant Magazine gave the film one and a half stars and noted "The characters just aren't old enough to be convincing in their hormone-driven need to prove themselves" and "This age gap is also a huge problem when it comes to the range that these kids bring to the project" and noted the portrayal of the child antagonist Cheng includes an "overblown and overused grimace, which looks like it might have originally belonged to Dolph Lundgren, looks especially silly on a kid that hasn't learned how to shave yet." Finally, Abrams noted "What's most upsetting is Dre's budding romance with Meiying. These kids have yet to hit puberty and already they're swooning for each other."

Box office

The film was released on June 11, 2010 by Columbia Pictures to 3,663 theaters across the United States. The Karate Kid topped the box office on its opening day, grossing $18.8 million, and in its opening weekend, grossing $56 million in North America, beating The A-Team, which grossed an estimated $9.6 million on the same opening day, and $26 million in its opening weekend.

As a result of the film's performance, a sequel is in the works at Sony Pictures.

Parody

Ralph Macchio, who starred in the original 1984 film, appears in Funny or Die's online short, Wax on, F*ck off, in which his loved ones stage an intervention in order to turn the former teen idol from a well-adjusted family man into an addict besieged with tabloid scandal, in order to help his career. During the video, Macchio reacts to seeing a poster for the 2010 Karate Kid remake.

See also

• 2010 in film
• Jackie Chan filmography

External links

• Official website
• The Karate Kid at IMDb
• The Karate Kid at Box Office Mojo
• The Karate Kid at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Karate Kid at Metacritic