A very touching Jackie Chan
Genre: Action/Comedy
Starring: Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith, Taraji P. Henson
Directed by: Harald Zwart
Directed by: Harald Zwart
Produced by: Jerry Weintraub, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, James Lassiter, Ken
Stovitz
Screenplay by: Cristopher Murphey
Story by: Robert Mark Kamen
Edited by: Joel Negron
Music by: James Horner
Cinematography: Roger Pratt
Country: United States, China
Release Date: June 11, 2010
Running time: 2 hours and 14 minutes
Budget: $40 million
Box office: $360 million
Resource: DVD, Blu-ray (BD)
Before I
start with the review of “The Karate Kid” movie I’d like to say a few words
about Chinese and Asian culture. By watching this great film I got to know
better the enchanting and grand culture of China.
Even beyond
this movie I was always fascinated by the cultures of China and of countries of
the Far East in general. I adore the music of China and Japan and the exquisite
sound of their traditional musical instruments. I also love their beautiful
architecture, their painting and poetry. The fine, artistic and very ancient
scripture of the Chinese excites me. And altogether, whatever comes from China
and the Far East makes me go crazy!
China is
the country that has invented more than 50% of all technological inventions
that we know today. Inventions such as writing paper and fireworks. The
Chinese, Japanese and in general all people from the Far East are very hard
working, intelligent and cleanly and for these reasons their countries make so
much progress today.
Broadly, I
respect and admire all ancient nations and their cultures. Cultures like that
of Egypt, Persia, Mesopotamia, Native American etc.
The notions
of Psycho-emotional balance, calmness and inner peace come from Eastern
cultures such as the Chinese. As a result of this fact I deem the average
Chinese man more calm and balanced in comparison to the frivolous and eruptive Modern
Greek man.
“The Karate
Kid” of 2010 is a remake of the enormously successful trilogy of films of the 1980’s,
The Karate Kid 1, 2, 3. Starring Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. This time around
the protagonists are the great Jackie Chan and the son of well-known American
actor, songwriter, producer and rapper Will Smith, Jaden Smith.
At this
point I would like to say some words of admiration for Jackie Chan. He is an
unbelievable and multifaceted talent. He has starred as an actor and stuntman
in almost countless movies. He has written many movie scripts. He is an
excellent and very experienced director. He is a wonderful choreographer. He is
a very good singer with a beautiful voice.
And, last
but not least he is outstanding in martial arts, and he has tried many
different styles of martial arts such as Chinese Kung Fu, Japanese Karate and
Judo, Taekwondo and more.
Jackie Chan
is a man I always admired alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger since I was a kid.
They are until today both of them my ultimate heroes. Both of them are
brilliant, very dynamic and extremely athletic men. Men of whom success knows
no limits.
The movie’s
story goes as follows: Little Dre Parker moves permanently with his mother from
Detroit of the U.S. to Beijing due to his mother’s change of job. The child has
great difficulties with his adaptation to the new environment. Everything in
China Dre sees as primitive and strange. In addition, he doesn’t speak a word
of Chinese.
What makes things
even worse is a gang of Chinese kids who terrorize Dre. Dre tries boldly and
with his minuses knowledge of martial arts to confront them without succeeding
at it. In a very harsh confrontation between Dre and the gang, Mr. Han
intervenes in a heroic way. Mr. Han is of course none other than Jackie Chan! Mr.
Han is a maintenance man who helps Dre’s mother with her new home.
Little Dre
is impressed by the incredible technique of Mr. Han. Dre asks Mr. Han to help
him out with his problems by teaching him Chinese Kung Fu. Although hesitant at
first, Mr. Han ultimately accepts the role of the trainer and teacher. The goal
of both of them is for Dre to participate in the Beijing martial arts
championship so he can face his enemies there. His enemies will also take part
in this championship.
The
soundtrack of the movie is written by very talented composer James Horner. It
is a very atmospheric soundtrack and fits the movie like a glove. But perhaps
it is not so ground breaking. But it is very beautiful indeed. The movie’s
soundtrack contributes a lot to the intense thrill and emotions that the movie
conveys. I won’t lie to you: I shed tears many times watching this film. And
this is a certain success for any artistic work.
“The Karate
Kid” talks about how to overcome the many hardships and hard hits that life gives
us. And also how to overcome our fears. Furthermore, “The Karate Kid” is a
tribute to true and deep friendship. The violence in “The Karate Kid” is in
rather low and tolerable levels compared to other films.
In “The Karate
Kid” there is also the element of love. As of little Dre falls in love (in a
childish, more tender way) with a pretty little Chinese girl, which continues
to support Dre until the end.
The acting
of all the protagonists is very good. Jackie Chan really stands out as well as
actress WenWen Han in the role of Dre’s girlfriend, Meiying. A true but small
problem of “The Karate Kid” is that it doesn’t quite capture the viewer’s
attention right from the first minute. But it definitely gets more interesting if
you show some patience during the first few minutes.
“The Karate
Kid” of 2010 has many similarities to the incredibly successful trilogy of the 1980’s
The Karate Kid. But this is to be totally expected because “The Karate Kid” of
2010 is a remake of that old movie.
The story
of “The Karate Kid (2010)” is predictable at some point, but at the same time,
unpredictable at other scenes. However, the incredible, innocent smile of
Jackie Chan, that established him for all those years, will make us all smile
with him again!
In
conclusion, if you liked the classic “The Karate Kid” trilogy of the 1980’s you
shouldn’t miss this amazing remake with Jackie Chan. However, even if you haven’t
even heard of those old 80’s movies you shouldn’t worry. “The Karate Kid” of
2010 is a movie that generates strong emotions and one that has its own spirit.
Don’t miss it!
