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 Cockboy Will Smith Jada Pinkett Smith James Lassiter Ken Stovitz Jacob Irvine
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
Language	English
Budget	$35 million

The Karate Kid, known as The Kung Fu Kid in Japan, South Korea, China, and to the film's cast members, is a 2010 martial arts film remake of the 1984 film of the same name. Directed by Harald Zwart, produced by Will 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 will be released theatrically in the United States on June 11, 2010.

Plot

Twelve year old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) is the most popular kid in Detroit, Michigan until he and his single mother Sherry (Taraji P. Henson) move to Beijing as a result of her being transferred by the car making company she works for. In their new home in Beijing, Parker falls for a young school student named Mei Ying that he sees in the park. As Dre flirts with Ying, an infamous bully named Cheng comes to pick on Parker's strange dance moves. As Dre tries to fight back, he is hurt even more in the process, with a restrained Ying forced to watch. At home, Sherry is oblivious that anything has happened. The next day, on Parker's first day of school, Sherry realizes that Dre has makeup covering a black eye, but Dre is able to dismiss it by saying he ran into a pole. During school, Parker is "accidentally" bumped into by Cheng, who he realized earlier goes to the same school. Afterwards, he discovers Mei Ying's talented skills with the violin, but sees that her teacher thinks that she rushes and thinks that practicing during lunch is not enough, so she must make time during the weekend. Both Parker and Mei Ying find it difficult to form a solid friendship with each other because of their cultural differences and because Cheng seems to disapprove of them even making eye contact, and bullies Parker whenever he sees this.

With the bullies constantly throwing him to the ground, and with no one else to turn to, the outlook for Parker's new life looks bleak until he meets Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), his building's maintenance man, who makes a deal with the bullies' merciless kung-fu master that if they let Dre train they can fight Dre in the upcoming martial arts tournament. A quirky mentor and a kung-fu master in secret, Mr. Han teaches Parker kung-fu through unconventional yet effective techniques. For instance, he makes Parker do the same tasks continuously for long periods: Put on a jacket, take it off, hang it, take it down, drop it on the floor, and pick it up. He does this continually as Mr. Han fixes a car in his living room. After Parker shows anger towards this continuous training, Mr. Han explains how each move, added with strong firmness, can be used as a defense technique. He then expands to tell Parker how everything we do is kung-fu. They travel to the place where Han was born, climbing the stairs up a mountain until they reach the area where Mr. Han learned kung-fu from his father. On the way, he tells Parker that the water that he is so thirsty for is at the top in the Dragon Well. As they walk through the temple-like area, Parker shows interest in a lady following gently to the movement of a cobra. Han explains that the lady is not following the cobra, but the cobra is following the lady. Parker thinks that Han will teach him this "mind control" but is told that it takes a lifetime to master. As they reach the room of the Dragon Well, Han teaches, with the reflection of the water, that if you stir the waters, your reflection will be gone. But if the waters are still, your reflection will follow you. They do a little training of the reflection with long poles of bamboo with rope loops at the end.

When they get back, they start more serious training. They go to the Great Wall of China to train endurance and speed. Parker is given a day off training because "too much of anything is not good." Parker spends the day telling Mei Ying the same thing and takes her away from going to practice to cut class and have fun. Later, he rushes to go see Mei Ying's audition, but her father tells him that he is banned from her life. Parker decides to go to Mr. Han's place even though there is no practice, and he sees that Mr. Han has destroyed with a baseball bat the car he has been fixing. Mr. Han tells him that it is the anniversary of the day he drove two people to their death in a car crash from which only he survived. Parker uses the bamboo sticks to drag Han away from the broken car to train and to distract him from the past. Sherry comes in and sees the training; as she smiles, the movie skips to the Martial Arts Tournament. Parker starts off badly because he runs off the mat, losing a point, but he nonetheless regains courage and makes his way to the semifinals. He faces an opponent from Cheng's kung-fu school. The master tells the boy to break Parker's leg, which he does reluctantly, getting disqualified for an illegal repetitive attack to the knee. As the Master of Ceremonies is about to announce Cheng the winner by default, Parker walks out of the infirmary, healed by an ancient healing technique known to Han. Cheng ruthlessly knocks Parker down when the fight starts, winning one point, but Parker counters with two moves he practiced with Mr. Han previously. Cheng's master tells him to break Parker's leg, which is successfully done legally. With two wins, two losses, and one match left, Parker balances on his good leg and reaches his arms out as he remembers the Cobra Lady did. He stares at Cheng and turns his head. Cheng follows, wondering what Parker is planning. As Cheng moves forward, Parker jumps, flips and brings his foot down on Cheng's head to win the last point. The last scene freezes with Parker walking away with Han's hand on his shoulder.

Cast

• Jackie Chan as Mr. Han
• Jaden Smith as Dre Parker
• Taraji P. Henson as Sherry Parker
• Yu Rongguang as Master Li
• Ming Xu as Bao
• Ji Wang as Mrs. Po
• Yi Zhao as Zhuang
• Tess Liu as History Teacher
• Harry Van Gorkum as Music Instructor

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 will contain 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 the 1984 film, The Karate Kid, the 2010 remake does not feature the modern interpretation of karate, which is from Okinawa. Despite its title, the new film focuses on a boy 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 31 May, 2010. [1] 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 22 May, 2010. [2]

Reception

The Karate Kid has received generally mixed reviews. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 57% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 28 reviews, with an average score of 6/10. Roger Ebert gave it a positive review, rating it three and a half out of four stars. The original Karate Kid Ralph Macchio, the original star of the first three Karate Kid films, stated that he had "mixed feelings" because a remake to his film made him feel old.

See also

• 2010 in film
• Jackie Chan filmography

External links

• Official website
• The Karate Kid at IMDb
• Official Trailer
• The Karate Kid Sneak Peek
• The Karate Kid: Movie Review