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Karate Kid Remake Sounds Worse Than I Thought
I still remember the first time I heard the rumor that there was going to be a Karate Kid remake. The rumor said that Will Smith’s seed, Jaden Smith, was going to be the new lead in the story. I INSTANTLY dismissed that rumor as total bull because no one would be stupid enough to actually do that right? Right? RIGHT!?!?!?!
Will Smith is the producer of the movie. Anyone want to take a wild guess how Jaden got the lead role?
Well, as I am often reminded in this business, yes, yes there are people stupid enough to do something like that, and we soon learned that Jaden Smith was indeed going to be the lead in the new Karate Kid movie. A 10 year old. A poor acting 10 year old (after seeing The Day The Earth Stood Still I decided that I HATE this child. Well… hating a child is harsh… let’s say I professionally hate this child actor).
Then came word that Jackie Chan was going to play the Mr. Myiagi character. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Jackie, but this is NOT a role he should have.
Now more details about the film are coming out and they all make me want to cringe, drop to my knees, shake my fists at the heavens and scream “WWWHHHYYYYY!?!?!?!”.
The good folks over at MovieWeb give us these new details about the Karate Kid remake:
Sherry is offered a transfer to China. Considering the U.S office is about to lay off everyone, it’s really her only choice; especially since nobody else at the office has been offered a transfer. With her young son Dre (Jaden Smith) in tow, the single-mother makes Beijing her new home. Needless to say, not knowing Chinese, and experiencing a bit of culture shock, they both find it a little hard to settle in – - Dre especially.
Like Daniel Larusso in the original film, Dre (who, unlike Larusso, is a skateboarding video-game buff) immediately catches the attention of the local bullies – in particular, Lui Wei Cheng. And before too long, Dre is going home with bruises (he tries to hide a black-eye under a cap by pulling it as far down his face as he can) and whining about wanting to return to the states.
Dre’s enrolled into a strict Beijing Middle School. His first day there is a bit of a shambles – the assistant principal spots his bruises, and assumes he’s been fighting (which, of course, they don’t accept under any circumstances), and he turns up in a school uniform, something he didn’t have to wear that day (there’s only certain days when a uniform is required).
The Mr Myiagi character is actually named Mr. Han (Jackie Chan). He’s the maintenance man of the apartment lock that Sherry and Dre have moved into, and meets the new residents when he’s called over to fix their hot water service. From the bathroom, Han spots Dre practicing martial-arts kicks (unsuccessfully) in front of a video-game, and catches his black eye. Later, of course, he’ll agree to teach him – both martial-arts and the Chinese language (so he can impress his mother by haggling over apples).
The ‘John Kreese’ character – the character played by Martin Kove in the original film – is Li Quan Ha, the owner of the Fighting dragon school of Kung-Fu. One visit to the school – in which Li Quan terrorizes his students (who range from the age of 3 onwards), namely Lui Wei Cheng – and Dre is immediately put off.
Oh, and yes, there’s a love interest – someone mother wants Dre to bring home for dinner.
A FRICKING LOVE INTEREST?!?!?! For a 10 year old?!?!?!
Daniel is now called “Dre”???
It’s in China?
Did I mention Jaden Smith is the lead?
I’m searching through some mathamatics websites now to find out if there is a numerical value less than zero to describe my hope and anticipation for this film. I’ll pass thanks.
John, after reading this, I can honestly tell you that it’s NOT a remake. If anything, this movie sounds like a full-fledged PARODY!
I completely agree. The first karate kid is a movie forever immortalized but my god this sounds even worse than the one they did with hilary swank… and I’m the same of jaden smith is a horrid actor.
F-ing AWFUL!!!!!
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WORST IDEA EVER!!!
I will not see this movie. But if I was ten I would be happy if my father got me into a movie where i would become a Karate master. He will probably be the envy of all his 10 year old friends.
You guys have heard me talking about this before but…STOP REMAKING THE CLASSICS.
And a love interest for a 10 year old? Lol, fail.
This is a shame to my name! I will karate chop Mr. Han and drop kick Dre into the Junk Bay of Hong Kong. Leave my classic movie alone. No one will top the waxing on and off of my original student. I curse this project for 10,000 years.
you spelled your name wrong.
epic fail
This sounds like a fantastic workout movie! All that intense cringing every other second will give you an awesome six pack.
i guess that i’ll get flamed for this, but i thought this was going to be ALOT worst than I thought
the themes are the same, i didn’t read anything of a tournament, just changing the names. the setting is different and the only thing that they are doing wrong is using the karate kid name
as for the love interest, it’s not like the kid is fu**ing a girl people, while it’s bad to assume, i’m sure it’s just going to be the ONLY person in school to treat him w/ respect and she gets invited over.
guess that i’ll get flamed for this, but i thought this was going to be ALOT worst than I thought doug volkman
the themes are the same, i didn’t read anything of a tournament, just changing the names. the setting is different and the only thing that they are doing wrong is using the karate kid name
as for the love interest, it’s not like the kid is fu**ing a girl people, while it’s bad to assume, i’m sure it’s just going to be the ONLY person in school to treat him w/ respect and she gets invited over. doug volkman
i watched the original not so long ago.
i think it is still quite a good movie and stands up just fine. the clothes the characters wear might be a little out of date…but i didn’t find it that big fo a deal.
The joys of being a megastar’s kid in Hollywood, getting whatever you want and doing whatever you want. Now, leave my Karate Kid alone!!!
I’m talking about the original film not this new one, leave the original alone!
Why does everything with remakes have to be urban. Does the story truly change that much by making Daniel, a black 10 yr old. What’s next an all black or hispanic version of The Breakfast Club ? Its just all bullshit, films are meant to be universal when done correctly in their meaning, like a framework of art. If you cant relate because of skin tone or age of the film, then your extremely stupid and probably should stick to cartoons.
I know the original is a classic, but give jaden and jackie a chance it might just be good. That, to me was is foul for hating the kid professionally or just hating the kid at all. I thought he was pretty good with his father in pursuit of happiness. I know your not racist but do you have something against black people? that forrest whitaker video about him being black, ugly and something else. I know you didn’t say it but you kinda agreed with it. I think you said something about tyler perry, now jaden smith.
Oh for fuck’s sake.
I rail on Rob Schneider all the time… does that mean I don’t like White People?
I hate Carlos Men-Steal-lia, does that mean I hate fake hispanics?
With the Forrest Whittaker thing, I said Forrest Whittakker is one of the most gifted actors alive on the planet, but I supported that idiot producers RIGHT to not pick Forrest if he thought it would hurt his investment for whatever reasons (although I do agree that forrest is ugly… come on… his mother would agree with that).
On a big post I did on horrible actors:
http://themovieblog.com/2008/03/actors-with-one-movie-that-fooled-you-into-thinking-they-could-act
I didn’t list one black performer. Does that mean I secretly hate white people?
Guess what, there are some black actors that suck. There are white actors that suck. There are asian actors that suck. And I’ll call it like I see it.
I find it pathetic that anyone tries to attach race to the issue. Simply pathetic.
Oh, and once more thing. I hate 90% of child actors, because generally speaking child actors all suck.
Jaden Smith is no exception. He really sucks.
”I know your not racist but do you have something against black people?”
*facepalm*
Anyway, why even call this a remake anymore? The title is different, the characters are different and locations are different. I’ve seen tons of films with a kid or teen being trained by a Asian martial arts master anyway, so what makes them so different to this? Nothing.
LMAO
John you racist prick!
xD
Anywho
I personally like this kid as an actor…I think hes really good. But the Karate Kid sounds like its going to suck….It sounds so bad its sad. But generally I think hes a good little actor. But he shouldnt play lead in this movie. This reminds me of how Ben Affliecs brother (Casie) was in that Assassination of Jesse James movie
Wax on! Wax off!!
Come on guys, lol.
The way I read that article, the love interest is for mom, not the kid, lol.
“someone MOTHER wants Dre to bring home for dinner.
oh and by the way, I want to foot sweep this movie!
TDot
I smell Will Smith all over this movie 0_0
Because you read the article?
FAIL!
Next thing you know, it’ll be called The Kung Fu Kid instead of the…Karat….huh? what’s that? What do you mean they already have??!!
Anyway, as far as I’m concerned, the remake was already done. It was called Never Back Down.
-Love interest? Chck.
- Love interest knows bully/went out with bully a few times and bully is a jerk about breakup. Check.
- good kid just moved in area, w/ no siblings just his single mom. Check.
- good kid learns from a teacher. Check.
- bully learns from bad teacher. [seen in deleted scenes-his father] Check.
- good kid has ass handed to him, hands over bully’s ass in the Grande Final`e. Check.
********
As for “the official remake”? yuk. The thing that turns me off the most other than a “love interest” for a 10 yr old {yeah, that’s hot! ‘Liz Shue has nothin’ compared to that, Tamyln Tomita too! Ooooh how the times go by!} is that we will be treated to The Evil Instructor who will talk intimidation to pre-teens! OH YEA!
I said it once and I’ll say it again.
Was there somethin’ wrong with Sammo Hung?
Yeah, if he’s learning Kung-fu, shouldn’t it be Kung-Fu Kid? Even Panda Express changed their teriyaki chicken to Mandarin Chicken after they figured out teriyaki was japanese and not chinese.
Darren,
In Never Back Down he has a sibling, a younger brother who is a tennis star. It’s why they move to Florida in the first place. You are spot on about it basically being karate kid though.
This sounds like they do not even have the copyright to the original and making changes so not to get sued.
I agree with you John — about both the moron who left the racist comment, and about child actors being the bane of Hollywood. They’re basically taking away money from grown up actors who’ve actually worked their whole lives for it, rather than simply getting pimped out by their parents.
And after TDTESS, Jaden Smith shouldn’t be allowed to be cast in anything other than community theater until he’s 18.
my goodness Jaden was annoying in that movie
I don’t think you are being entirely fair. Are child actors good? No, but can you have an 18 year old act as a 10? Child actors take an important part in movies, child roles. As a whole they may not be good but they are still kids, they are learning so what do you expect.
Also, saying that they are being pimped out by their parents is also not totally fair. Yes, there is no chance that Jaden would get this role if Will Smith was not the producer. However, if you had the opportunity to give a scholarship to your son or someone else, whom more or less is just as qualified for the scholarship as your son, who would you give it to? Odds are you would give it to your son, unless of course you are one of the “make your own way” parents. Will Smith giving his son a big is not surprising, having the role be a 10 year old kid is a mistake, but since that is what the role is, is it really that bad that it is Jaden over some over kid?
By no means do I think this movie will be good, and by no means do I think that ANYTHING I have heard about is so far sounds good. But that doesn’t change anything. Child actors as a whole are bad, but necessary.
im not gonna say im not rascist cause rascism has no issue at all in me saying “FUCK THIS SHIT”
THE WHOLE DAMN CONCEPT IS CRAP…..karate kid was a crap idea then but we loved it for its cheeseness.fact is its not 1987 any more….fuck this movie…will smith is good in roles he has heart for but usually u get the same ole will smithh…so i have no expectations for this movie at all.
I just asked a question? dont have a heart attack.
I dont care about rob schneider, or that carlos guy or that stupid list on how you openly hate white people (Ha) and forrest whittaker is ugly, but come on you got to admit there is not a lot of topics you post about black films
So basically you’re saying you don’t care about logic.
And what the fuck is a “black film”????
Films with Black people in them? Lots.
We talk about them too.
The Color Purple, John!!
Roots!!
Any Spike Lee Movie!
White Men Cant Jump!
I’m Gonna Git You Sucka!
Don’t Be A Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice In the Hood!
Undercover Brother!
The Ladies Man!
Isn’t the name Han, a Korean surname?
Well, there was a character named Dae Han in “Enter The Dragon”. But since that was the bad guy and he discraced the hero’s family and the Shaolin temple…
.
The Han Chinese constitute 92% of China’s population (including Jackie) and 19% of the worlds population the name comes from the Han Dynasty.
That being said…The Chinese name for Korea is “Hanguo” the Korea language is called “Hangul” and their traditional garb is “Hanbok” and yes Han is Korea surname.
It all fits tho. A Chinese man with a Korean surname teaching a Japanese martial art…given the history of these 3 countries it is nice to see them getting along.
You know I hate alot of martial arts films. Being a student of many combat ideals made me really dis-like most of those movies. Karate Kid is no exception but it has alot of heart and the movie plays well. The sequel wasn’t even too bad either. I like that Daniel was always getting the crap kicked out of him. Miyagi was a great character that will be quotable forever. I always wanted them to make a sequel where Daniel was the teacher or at the least where that character is now a days. Thats what I wanna see. This movie is NOT a remake, its more or less a rip-off then a remake. I can’t believe Chan is doing this. But, I have hope the film will fall like JLA before production starts.
Some things I noticed about this plot synopsis. It was written poorly and describes things that really don’t need to be described. Is it really important to know that some days they have to wear uniforms. All we needed to know was that he wore the uniform, looked like a dork, and some kids beat him up.
In fact, we don’t even need that much in a simple plot synopsis. The movie is about a kid who needs to stand up to bullies by learning martial arts.
I usually like to wait for the trailers to see whether or not I’m interested.
I might add that I think people are making too much of a big deal over this. I mean, heaven forbid a kids movie that you don’t like is released. It’s not the end of the world, and it’s not like people are dumber because of it. People are dumb for thinking that
The argument against remakes is pretty shortsighted. Hollywood has been remaking movies since the 1920’s. And most movies are adaptions anyway, based off books, short stories, comic books, video games, plays, albums, and heaven forbid they make a movie based off another screenplay.
I dont call this a remake anymore. I call it a rip off.
I think I agree with Barney Stinson’s view on Karate Kid…… “I cried when the Cobra Kai Dojo” lost”.
Seriously, Ralph Macchio was a lovable character and all, but he couldn’t really fight. Those fight scenes were pathetic, In a real Karate tournament he would have been beaten severely.
My opinion of Macchio doesn’t mean I think that this new Karate Kid is a good idea. Just saying the movie was flawed.
Mr. Miyagi ruled though!
Sorry I have to disagree, I have been in karate tournaments and thats usually how it goes down. Its like a game of tag. Johnny made a simple mistake by trying to attack first. You say the fight scenes were pathetic but what you basing that assumtion on? In hign sight the fight scenes were more realistic then say Bloodsport or Best of the Best.
I should have said the Ralph Macchio fight scenes were pathetic, but you know what I mean.
In answer to your question, I have been to Karate, Kung-Fu and Kick Boxing tournaments/matches and the best fighter doesn’t always win of course, things happen. But no way does a Ralph Macchio type win a Karate tournament in my mind. JMO
I dont think you can judge a martial artist as a good fighter in these tournaments. As I said its just a game of tag. That would be like judging an actor in a reality show. But I see your point on how the better man doesnt win. In the case ok Karate Kid… its a movie, and an 80s movie at that. So from your mind you should really avoid this film if it dose see the like of day.
Shia Lebeouf was the only guy who could play the karate kid in a remake. Him and Jackie Chan would be an amazing duo.
But for chrissakes Will Smith, stop casting your kids in your movies!
-_-
I hate that kid so much.
Anyone involved in this movie in any capacity needs to eat a big bag of shit
This actually has everything to do with race, why else is the character changed ? Is it rascist to point out the obvious. My reasoning is what exactly does it prove other than studio’s cashing in trying to remake a less than perfect film and concept to be more “hip” or modern.
I agree with Grave in the hope that this ust falls apart before it’s made. Why, Jackie? Why? :( And now I’m just going to ignore this ENTIRE ordeal. Starting now.
uhh… also, how can this be “karate kid” when jackie chan does “kung fu”… karate and kung fu arent the same. maybe it should be kung fu kid… right?
I hope it fizzle !
Jaden Smith, the youngest douchebag of Hollywood
How is this kid a douchebag?
He has done nothing more than any other 10 year old who “wants to be just like daddy”
I very much agree Rodney. I think people can be a bit prudish nowadays. I mean, what does calling a 10 year old a douchebag have to do with anything? Did he piss in somebody’s cheerios or is it the fact that he’s 10 years old and probably set for the rest of his life?
I’m sorry, I just don’t see the point of a bunch of 20 and 30 years olds ganging up on a ten year old and calling him names. That’s a bit immature and quite sad really.
Especially over a movie that probably none of us were going to see anyway.
Josh,
But people have to have some reason to hate, even if its a dumb reason
F*ck this.
Plain and simple.