The Karate Kid

The Karate Kid

Year: 2010
Starring: Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith
Directed By: Harald Zwart
Run Time: 140 Minutes
Rating: PG

     I am just going to start of the bat here and say that this is how the first Karate Kid should have been; the plot line was so much more realistic and made more sense.  Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) is the new hero in this movie and is a 12 year old kid who is forced (in some respect) to move to China with his mother for her job.  The plot is almost identical to the original movie, thus making this clearly a remake, but they tied up some loose ends that made the original film a little unrealistic.  Dre is thrown into a culture and is the outcast, which makes more sense why he would get picked on.   A child moving to a country where martial arts is a cultural aspect, and not how it was in the original Karate Kid, just some kid moving to California helped this movie be more believable.  But the story was still the same, Mr. Han (Jakie Chan) is the mysterious maintenance man who is the kung fu master.  Similar situations occur leading up to the main event which has same result as the original.
     I want to go over some things I liked so much better about this movie.  First, the introduction of Jackie Chan is brilliant.  Although Miyagi will forever be a memorable character, the actor was not a martial arts expert.  Jackie Chan as we all know is a master of many forms of kung fu.  Secondly, they replace karate with Kung Fu.  Karate in comparison to many martial arts is lame.  Kung Fu, however, has so many forms, which makes more sense for this movie to introduce the young hero with a martial art that is worth learning.  Thirdly, the movie had a better message then the others did.  While it still had some negative messages, it also had a message that martial arts is about discipline and not about beating people up.  Fourth, the new crane kick at the end was way cooler, and made more sense that the opponent could not block the kick.  Unlike the original crane kick, it seemed so easy to block, and useless (which was blocked in both Part II and III).  Watch this movie and you will see what I am talking about; that kick is possible as well.
     Don't watch this movie expecting a fight sequence with Jackie Chan.  They filmed an alternate ending with Mr. Han fighting the dojo leader, Master Li (Rongguang Yu) but it was ultimately cut from the script. I think it was a great call because it would have ruined the movie and all events leading up to the climax.  In the original movie, Miyagi beat up five 18 year old kids, and it was kind of weird.  In this movie, Mr. Han defends a beaten Dre against six twelve year olds, by using what they are doing against them.  Mr. Han does not throw a punch, and it is just way better when showing that he is a master in kung fu.  This is where the skill of Jackie Chan is seen in this movie, and can again be admired.
     I will give this movie 4 out of 5 crane kicks.  I want to give this movie 5 out of 5 because in all honesty, I really enjoyed this movie, and it sucked me in easier then the original Karate Kid.  Plus, not having to listen to Ralph Macchio's voice made it so much more bearable.  And you can not denounce the fact that Jackie Chan would be a hell of kung fu teacher to have.  He really played his role well, and proving he is a great actor.  The reason I am not giving it a perfect score is because well, not many movies deserve that perfect score.  There is some things not good about this movie, but here is my final word: If you never have seen a Karate Kid movie, and are skeptical, watch this one at the very least.  If you have seen all the Karate Kid movies, this one will at least fill up the void in your life that the other three created!

TMBro

There are some good references to the original movie for those of us who have seen the original, which give you that single "ha" moment that remakes are fond of including in their script.  And yes, this is Will Smith's son.

The Karate Kid, Part III

The Karate Kid, Part III

Year: 1989

Starring: Ralph Macchio, Noriyuki "Pat" Morita

Directed By: John G. Avildsen

Run Time: 112 Minutes

Rating: PG

     For the third installment of the series, the director takes it back to the original story line.  The movie begins much in the same way as the others, a montage of the events leading up to this movie.  However, this one kind of skips the second movie and focuses more on the first movie, and the downfall of the Cobra Kai dojo.  This movie completely skips the second movie plot all together and gets back to more of a reemergence of the Karate Kid main plot.

     First and for most, apparently in California, there are people that are so into Karate, that Daniel winning the tournament a year earlier meant the Cobra Kai went out of business.  So the plot is to bring down Daniel in the tournament, by bringing in a Karate champion, who is pretty much a big tool in this movie.  Daniel also gets introduced to a teacher who at first appears to be his friend, but the audience knows that he is evil.  Trying to teach him that Karate is about injury the opponent, while Miyagi insists that it is for defense only, and that defending his title at the tournament is not the true meaning of Karate.  And just as there is in every Karate kid movie, Miyagi comes to save the day, and then agrees to train Daniel.  Anyway, the ending is pretty predictable.

     I will give this movie 3 out of 5 Crane Kicks, because it at least got back onto the original story line, and the build up to the tournament was better.  The underlying messages in this movie?  Don't go to college, open up a store with your Karate teacher selling Bonsai trees, and center your life around karate.  I think if anyone in China or Japan saw these movies in the 80's, they had to be saying "America just destroyed martial arts."  It was more entertaining then Part II, but really, thank goodness for Jet Li, Jackie Chan and any martial arts actor who made the art of martial arts cool again.

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The Karate Kid, Part II

The Karate Kid, Part II

Year: 1986

Starring: Ralph Macchio, Noriyuki "Pat" Morita

Directed By: John G. Avildsen

Run Time:  113 Minutes

Rating: PG

     Part II is a continuation of the first movie, which continues the story, but focuses more on Miyagi's character and his background.  This movie strays away from the original in which was about learning karate and the journey of learning from teacher to student.  This movie really takes on more of a plot line then the first in which it focuses more on the characters back story, and not as much as on the fighting.  It is more of a dramatic movie in which you are not as drawn to the conclusion, and it changes from scene to scene as what could happen.  I will say that the end of this movie was pretty random, and came out of no where since events leading up to it did not suggest it would happen.

     You start with a montage of the previous movie to give the audience a run down of what happened in the first, so you are all ready to go for part II.  Daniel and Miyagi start the movie with building a room, which begins to be a part of what we may think is training for the final scene.  In actuality we find out that Daniel's mother is moving again and Mr. Miyagi has graciously offered his housing so Daniel-san can stay and finish school.  We get a letter in the mail and Bam!, all of a sudden we are off to Okinawa.  Here is where we get into Miyagi's back story with his father and best friend.  His father is dying, and his best friend hates him for taking his girl when they were 18.  They challenge to a fight, and from there on, the movie moves in unexpected ways.  In my eyes, it didn't flow very well, and the whole time I am waiting for the action to take place, which happens from time to time, but it is leading toward nothing really.  Without giving much away, the last scene is everyone happy at a party, then all of a sudden, the cousin attacks Daniel, and from there it was just, well not a great sequel to the movie.

     I will have to give this movie 2 out of 5 crane kicks.  You watch the first one, and it kept you entertained to a point, and had a climax that made sense.  This movie, draws you in on the basis that you think it will flow the same way as the first, but then you are sadly disappointed because there is no real lead up to the climax, and the events were just weird.  Again the director kind of messed up his career after Rocky.  Maybe not worth the time, but if you want to watch in order to continue on to Part III, I will never recommend you to skip a part of the saga, NEVER.

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The Karate Kid

The Karate Kid

Year: 1984

Starring: Ralph Macchio, Noriyuki "Pat" Morita

Directed By: John G. Avildsen

Run Time: 126 Minutes

Rating: PG

     A classic movie, that anyone who is ever lived has seen.  If you tell me that you have not seen this movie, either you are a liar, or just flat out crazy.  If you don't know who Miyagi is, then you need a lesson!  For most boys, this movie in our youth led us to the belief that Karate would be the answer to problems.  However, after watching this movie recently, I learned a few things from it that aren't necessarily a great message to pass onto children.  More on that later.

     This is a story about a boy who moves to California and is a New Jersey native in a new world, and is subject to be bullied.  The new place where he lives, the maintenance man, is the famous Mr. Miyagi, played by Pat Morita.  Interesting fact about him is that he started as a comedian, and has no Japanese accent.  So when you watch it, you are watching a Japanese-American faking a Japanese accent.  Regardless, you will not even know he is faking it, and he plays the famous teacher to Daniel-san (Ralph Macchio).  Throughout the first part of the movie, Daniel is getting into fights, in which case I believe he jumped the gun to throw his fists.  The fight before Miyagi steps in, he really caused the Cobra Kai clan to come after him.  Miyagi tells Daniel-san in the movie that Karate is not for beating people up, but rather for defense.  He then agrees to train Daniel, in order to earn respect.  They become friends, and Miyagi plays a surrogate father to Daniel-san which produces three sequels. (Five if you count the one with Hilary Swank and the remake).

     I liked this movie, however, it is funny to watch an 80's movie in 2010.  I thought the movie didn't quite flow well and the story could have used some work.  The overall message here is that learning karate and fighting your opponent in competition is okay, as long as you earn their respect.  Not the best message in the world, but could be worse.  They could have done a lot more with the story to make the whole "impossible feat" more honorable at the end.  It is still a classic, and who wouldn't wish for a Miyagi in their own life to teach them martial arts?  I know I would.

     I give this movie 3 out of 5 crane kicks.  It is still a classic and I advise everyone to see it, but based on the story and the underlying theme, it isn't that great.  When I review the remake, you will see why I rate the movie lower.

TMBro

PS: The director also directed Rocky.  But he also did Rocky V... so since Rocky, his directing has been, well, a bit rocky.