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 | china | bully | great wall of china | beijing china | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

As of 2020, this is the only piece of Karate Kid media to feature principal actors who have actually achieved the rank of black belt.

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Goofs

In Mr. Han's office, he gives Dre a full glass of water. Cut to close up and Dre clearly tips up an empty glass.

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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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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 The Rotten Tomatoes Show: The A-Team/The Karate Kid/Winter's Bone (2010)

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Soundtracks

Back in Black
Written by Brian Johnson, Angus Young and Malcolm Young
Performed by AC/DC
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

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.

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:

Michigan, USA

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