The Karate Kid (2010)

Work causes a single mother to move to China with her young son; in his new home, the boy embraces kung fu, taught to him by a master.

Director:

Harald Zwart

Writers:

Christopher Murphey (screenplay), Robert Mark Kamen (story)

Stars:

Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson

4 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jaden Smith	...	Dre Parker
Jackie Chan	...	Mr. Han
Taraji P. Henson	...	Sherry Parker
Wenwen Han	...	Meiying
Rongguang Yu	...	Master Li
Zhensu Wu	...	Meiying's Dad
Zhiheng Wang	...	Meiying's Mom
Zhenwei Wang	...	Cheng
Jared Minns	...	Dre's Detroit Friend
Shijia Lü	...	Liang
Yi Zhao	...	Zhuang
Bo Zhang	...	Song
Luke Carberry	...	Harry
Cameron Hillman	...	Mark
Ghye Samuel Brown	...	Oz

Storyline

12-year-old Dre Parker could've been the most popular kid in Detroit, but his mother's latest career move has landed him in China. Dre immediately falls for his classmate Mei Ying - and the feeling is mutual - but cultural differences make such a friendship impossible. Even worse, Dre's feelings make an enemy of the class bully, Cheng. In the land of kung fu, Dre knows only a little karate, and Cheng puts "the karate kid" on the floor with ease. With no friends in a strange land, Dre has nowhere to turn but maintenance man Mr. Han, who is secretly a master of kung fu. As Han teaches Dre that kung fu is not about punches and parries, but maturity and calm, Dre realizes that facing down the bullies will be the fight of his life.

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Plot Keywords:

kung fu | kid | karate | china | bully | 

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Taglines:

A Challenge He Never Imagined. A Teacher He Never Expected.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Family | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for bullying, martial arts action violence and some mild language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA China

Language:

English Chinese

Release Date:

11 June 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kung Fu Kid

Filming Locations:

Beijing, China

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£4,882,306 (UK) (30 July 2010)

Gross:

$176,591,618 (USA) (17 September 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, China Film Group, Jerry Weintraub Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

140 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The American title for this film was kept as "The Karate Kid", to maintain the connection to the earlier films it is loosely based on, even though this movie takes place in China and the martial arts used are forms of kung fu. The difference is referenced in the film when Dre's mother describes a team as practicing karate, and Dre quickly corrects her.

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Goofs

When Dre gets beat up at the park Meiying and Cheng alternate positions between the camera being focused on Dre and focused on the two.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Sherry Parker: Dre, you ready?

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Crazy Credits

The opening and closing credits for the movie are shown in both English and Chinese.

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Amy Poehler/Katy Perry (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Bang Bang"
Written by Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars and K'Naan (as Keinan Warsame)
Performed by K'Naan featuring Adam Levine
Courtesy of A&M/Octone Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

A poor remake

I decided to watch this one so that my kids could see what we experienced with the original in the 80's. Even though Ralph Machio was moderately annoying even back then, the movies did define an era for many of us. Boy what a disappointment with this remake, on so many levels. Generally speaking, I have to say that the producers were trying so hard to copy the original that many of the scenes seemed 'forced'. Even when they were trying to add a variation, it failed to produce the same conviction. Here is a list of my issues with the film: 1. Jaden Smith is simply too young for the role. Between his meagre acting skills and the odd childhood romance, it just didn't work. 2. Jackie Chan seemed very hollow in this role and lacked his usual spark and enthusiasm. I'd say he missed the mark and the potential this role had for him. The scene where Dre discovers his master's past pain is particularly lame. It didn't pull any emotional strings. 3. Dre's mom was really annoying. 4. The general age group for the kids was too young and forced mature concepts that didn't come off as believable. 5. The producers should have 'made it their own' and deviated further, instead of attempting a sad copy.

I don't recommend this film. Go and rent the original if you want to feel the inspiration from a 'coming of age / kung fu / feel good' flick. It didn't even suck my kids in.