Monday, December 15, 2008

uggh... New "Kempo" Kid

Ok, so when I first heard a few months ago that there was going to be a remake of the Karate Kid, the 80's classic that we all grew up with and loved, it put a small smile on my face. This was in spite of the fact that I heard that Will Smith's 12 year old son was to play the lead role... I was willing to give the shrimp a go.

And now this:
Aside from addressing the Miyagi’s casting, Smith also revealed one interesting twist on the plot. “We’re making it with the China Film Group, so it’ll be based in Beijing,” he said of where the modern version of “Karate Kid” will take place.
...what!? But, but... but then it's not the Karate Kid?? I mean seriously, how can shoot in Beijing and have a Chinese teacher and still call it the Karate Kid with a straight face? Wu Shu Kid maybe, but not Karate Kid. I don't care if Karate was originally adapted from a Chinese art, it still took in some Okinawan influences to get to its current state.

Geez... I don't get why Hollywood feels the need to rape all these good originals from Japan lately - first there was Speed Racer (abysmal and totally lackluster), now they're ruining Dragonball (ack!), the Kenpo Kid (blech!), and even choosing to let Keanu Reeves dude!-ify the classic 47 Ronin story.

I still have a slight hope for this one though...

3 comments:

guch said...

Cool, Astroboy meets the new generation of kids! But yeh, it's still too soon to try do a remake of karate kid. It's not like it's a story designed for souped up cg or other special effects, it's just a relationship between a teacher and a pupil who is trying to find his inner strength.. But if they are naming the movie "the Karate Kid", I'll be wincing.

Why couldn't they place it in Japan or another country where it's more likely to take place? Then again maybe the fact that it's unlikely to find "karate" in China, that the story will find its twist? Unlikely is right

Doug said...

I think what makes the real uphill battle for this one is replacing Mr. Miyagi - his moral quips are what makes the original still worth watching to this day more than anything else... the cheesy 80's soundtrack is just icing. I seriously doubt they can find anyone to do the job as well as Pat Morita did, whether they're Chinese, Japanese descent or whatever.

The location... well I think what's telling is the part about them making this a joint production with a Chinese production team, which means they're going for the choreography, which to me is stupid for the reasons you talk about - it's a basic story about a kid finding himself, not Jet Li vs. Jackie Chan.

And wow... don't check the Dragonball previews unless you have tissues handy. It's a pretty frickin sad case.

Go Astroboy!

Mike said...

One day they will make a worthy Dragon Ball movie. I've felt it in my soul ever since I saw the last fight sequence in the last Matrix movie. The current piece of trash they are coming out with is called Unlimited or Un-something which to me leaves it open for a complete reboot in the future by someone who knows what they are doing.

I'll still see it though.

Oh, and you forgot to mention Memoirs of a Geisha which DIDN'T INCLUDE A SINGLE FUCKING JAPANESE ACTRESS. To me, that was more insulting than anything else hollywood has done as far as Japan related movies are concerned.