The Karate Kid (known as The Kung Fu Dream in China and sometimes Karate Kid 5[4] and Best Kid in Japan and South Korea) is a 2010 Americanmartial arts remake of the 1984 film of the same name. Directed by Harald Zwart, produced by Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, the film stars Jaden Smith andJackie Chan.
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 runs afoul 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 Sherry (Taraji P. Henson) move to Beijing from West Detroit after she gets a transfer in her car factory job. Dre develops a crush on a young violinist, Mei Ying (Wenwen Han), who reciprocates his attention, but Cheng (Zhenwei Wang), a kung fu prodigy whose family is close to Mei Ying's, attempts to keep them apart by beating Dre, and later proceeds to bully him in and around school. After a field trip to the Forbidden City, Dre encounters Cheng and his friends hanging out close to his apartment. Dre tries to pass by without them seeing him. When he finds a bucket of oil, Dre gets revenge by splashing oil around Cheng and his friends. Cheng and the others pursue and catch Dre, beating him. During the brutal attack, the enigmatic maintenance man of Dre's building, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), comes to Dre's aid, revealing himself as a kung fu master who dispatches Dre's tormentors.
After Han mends Dre's injuries using fire cupping, Dre asks if Mr. Han could teach him Kung-Fu. Han refuses, but decides to meet Cheng's teacher, Master Li (Yu Rongguang), to make peace. Li, who teaches his students to show no mercy to their enemies, challenges Dre to a fight with Cheng. When Han declines, Li says they will not be allowed to leave his school unless Dre or Han fights. Han acquiesces, but insists the fight take place at an upcoming tournament, and that Li's students leave Dre alone until the tournament. Li agrees, but tells Han that if Dre does not show up during the tournament he will personally bring pain to Han and Dre.
Dre is shocked when Han tells him that he will fight in a kung fu tournament. Han promises to teach Dre real kung fu. 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 demonstrates that the repetitive arm movements were Han's method of teaching Dre martial arts techniques, which Dre displays instinctively when prompted by Han's mock attacks. Han emphasizes that the movements Dre is learning apply to life in general, and that serenityand 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 apparently 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 theirforms, but Dre's subsequent attempt to use this reflection technique on his Mum is unsuccessful.
As Dre's friendship with Mei Ying continues, Dre persuades Mei Ying to cut school for a day of fun, but when she is nearly late for her violin recital her parents deem him a bad influence and forbid her from spending more time with him. When Dre finds Han drunk, despondent and breaking the car he had in his living room, Dre learns that it is the anniversary of Han's wife and son's deaths, which occurred when he lost control of the car due to anger caused from an argument he was having with his wife. Dre reminds Han that one of his lessons was in perseverance, and that Han needs to heal from his loss. Han assists Dre in reading a note of apology to Mei Ying's father in Chinese; he accepts and promises that he and Mei will attend the tournament to support Dre.
At the tournament, the under-confident Dre is slow to achieve parity with his opponents, but soon begins beating them and advances to the semifinals, as does Cheng, who violently finishes off his opponents. Dre comes up against Liang, another of Li's students, who is instructed by Li to injure Dre's leg. When Liang insists that he can beat Dre, Li sternly tells him that he does not want him beaten, but broken. Although Liang is disqualified for his illegal strikes, Dre is incapacitated.
Despite Han's insistence that he has earned respect for his performance in the tournament, Dre convinces Han to mend his leg by using fire cupping in order to continue the tournament. Dre returns to the arena, facing Cheng. Dre delivers impressive blows, but Cheng counters with a strike to Dre's injured leg. Dre struggles to get up, and attempts 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. After this, Cheng awards Dre the trophy, instead of the presenter, with a smile which signifies to Dre that he need not be scared anymore.
Alternate ending
In an exclusive Blu-ray alternate ending, Mr. Han and Master Li commence a fight as Master Li tries to punish Cheng for the failure. Mr. Han defeats Master Li twice, and earns the respect of his students after he decides against injuring his downed opponent. Li is humiliated further when his students leave him, and receives one final punch from Dre's mother.
Development
On November 10, 2008, Variety reported that work on a Karate Kid remake had begun.[5][6] Variety stated that the new film, to be produced by Will Smith, "has been refashioned as a star vehicle forJaden 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."[7] 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.[6]
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 and the crane stance when they were practicing forms; the theatrical trailer shows this scene with the original film's theme "You're the Best" playing.[8]
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. 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.[9]Despite this, the film was released under the original The Karate Kid title in Asian countries, except in People's Republic of China,[10] Japan[11] and South Korea.[12]
Music
The official theme song is "Never Say Never", a song written by Adam Messinger, and produced by The Messengers (Adam Messinger and Nasri Atweh). It is performed by Justin Bieber and Jaden Smith. The music video was released on May 31, 2010.[13]
The film started with "Do You Remember" by Jay Sean. "Remember the Name" by Fort Minor was used in the trailer to promote the movie. Parts of the song, "Back in Black" by AC/DC, were also used in 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.[14] "Bang Bang" by K'naanfeaturing Adam Levine and "Say" by John Mayer are also featured in the movie.[15]It also features Lady Gaga's "Poker Face", Flo Rida's "Low" and Gorillaz' "Dirty Harry" (being performed in Chinese language).
Release and reception
The film premiered May 26 in Chicago, with appearances by Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith, and a brief surprise appearance from Will Smith.[16]
The United Kingdom premiere was held July 15. It was attended by Chan and Smith, as well as producers Will and Jada Pinkett Smith.[17]
Critical response
The Karate Kid has received mixed to positive reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 66% based on 193 reviews, with an average score of 6.2/10. Rotten Tomatoes has said that "It may not be as powerful as the 1984 edition, but the 2010 Karate Kid delivers a surprisingly satisfying update on the original." [18] Metacritic, another review aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 61 based on 37 reviews from mainstream critics.[19]
Ann Hornaday described Jaden Smith as a revelation, and that he "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"[20] 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".[21] 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."[22][23]
Some critics took notice that the film's characters are much younger than in the original film; they also noted what they believe the filmmakers' unrealistic and inappropriate characterizations were. 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."[24]
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[3] 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.[25] It closed on September 18, 2010 after 110 days of release, grossing $176.7 million in the US along with an additional $182 million overseas for a worldwide total of $358 million, making it a huge box office success.
Awards and nominations
J-14 Teen Icon Awards 2010
- Iconic Movie (Nominated)
- Iconic Movie Actor – Jaden Smith (Nominated)
- Favorite Family Movie (Nominated)
- Favorite on Screen Team - Jaden Smith & Jackie Chan (Nominated)
- Favorite Action Star - Jackie Chan (Won)
- Favorite Movie (Won)
- Favorite Buttkicker (Jackie Chan) (Won)
- Favorite Movie Actor (Jaden Smith) (Nominated)
- Best Song From A Movie (Never Say Never: By: Justin Bieber ft. Jaden Smith) (Nominated)
- Biggest Badess Star (Jaden Smith) (Nominated)
- Best Leading Young Actor In A Feature Film (Jaden Smith) (Won)
- Choice Summer: Movie (Nominated)
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