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:

Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith, Taraji P. Henson

5 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 has moved to China, and finds himself like a fish out of water. He befriends a fellow classmate, Mei Ying, only to make a rival, Cheng, who starts to bully and attack Dre. Soon, Mr Han, the maintenance man of Dre's apartment, fends off Cheng and his friends when they are attacking Dre and signs Dre up to fight in the Kung Fu tournament in return for the bullies laying off of Dre. Dre realizes Mr. Han is much more than a maintenance man, when he's revealed as a master of Kung Fu and Dre soon learns that Kung Fu is about self defense and peace, instead of violence and bloodshed.

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Plot Keywords:

kung fu | bully | china | 2010s | detroit | 

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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 Mandarin

Release Date:

11 June 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Karate Kid Remake

Filming Locations:

Beijing, China

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$55,665,805, 13 June 2010

Gross USA:

$176,591,618

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$359,126,022

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Overbrook Entertainment, Sony Pictures Releasing

Technical Specs

Runtime:

140 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The style of Kung Fu that the woman standing on the dragon's head is practicing (at the temple, before the dragon well) is Crane Style Kung Fu. Practitioners of this style are very adept at balancing on one foot, as a crane does. It is interesting to note that she is controlling a cobra (likely in the same style as a snake charmer). This could possibly be a nod to The Karate Kid (1984), in which Daniel defeated a member of the Cobra Kai dojo by using the "Crane technique".

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Goofs

In the backstreet fight scene, Mr. Han bonks two of the kids' heads together. You can clearly see that one is behind the other.

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Quotes

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

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Crazy Credits

Stills from the production of the film are shown alongside the credits.

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Alternate Versions

Chinese version was re-edited to make Dre seem like the bad guy, and makes it seem like he started all the fights.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Reboots and Remakes That Nobody Asked For (2017)

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Soundtracks

Higher Ground
Written by Stevie Wonder
Performed by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

Some things are just better left alone

Let's make it clear from the beginning, The Karate Kid is a blatant vehicle for Jaden Smith, with his all too famous father Will producing the movie in an attempt to bolster his son's acting career. Much like the criticism that Shane Meadow's Somers Town garnered for its association with Eurostar, it could be argued that the Karate Kid is a cleverly crafted two and a half hour long advert for Jaden Smith. That being said, it's a fairly well polished advert with Jaden putting in a solid performance, the only criticism that can be levelled at Smith is his age; the original Karate Kid was much older, broadening the films appeal to a wider audience, but as I watched pre-teens fighting I couldn't help feeling that this would alienate the teen audience as they will struggle to relate to the main character.

Don't get me wrong, the original is hardly a masterpiece, as is clear from its recent relegation to the library of channel five Sunday afternoon family films that are usually only worth watching for the memories they rekindle, but in 1984 the influence it had over popular culture was widespread, with teens everywhere desperate to take up martial arts. There is no doubt that the new version will inspire a similar wave of interest and while this may indicate a certain amount of popularity, it is no indication of the film's quality, which doesn't come close to the sheer entertainment of the original.

Without comparing the two versions, The Karate Kid is a fairly entertaining movie, it has its flaws - most notably its length, but children oblivious to the original will love watching Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) start a new life in China while finding his feet with the local gang. Jackie Chan puts in a stirling performance as Mr Han, the caretaker and karate master who dedicates his time to training Dre and teaching him the true art of karate, that shows he can actually act.

The story arc remains very similar to the original with the main alteration being the setting, which provides some fantastic backdrops for the street battles and a striking training scene on the great wall of China. Visually the film is impressive and the acting is okay, but remakes are never going to compare favourably to their predecessors and a change to one of the most memorable scenes in the film ("wax on, wax off") will be seen as blasphemous by fans of the original.

This is definitely a film for the younger generation, people familiar with the 1984 version should stay well away but those heading into the film without preconceptions formed from viewing the original will find a fairly enjoyable story that is very easy to watch. As i know most people reading this will have seen the original, save your money, and if you haven't seen the karate kid, you're missing out on an eighties classic - go and buy the DVD now and forget about the new version. Some things are just better left alone.