Jaden Smith is the Karate Kid

I loved the good old days when a movie can offend the core discipline of martial arts and make it look like a week or two of carefully crafted yardwork and chores can make you the equivilent of a black belt in Karate.

But it was just a fluffy film that spawned 2 light entertaining sequels with Ralph Macchio, and one failed restart with Hillary Swank.

It was nearly a year ago when we heard Will Smith in talks to direct the Karate Kid, then rumoured to be remodeled to be the Kung Fu Kid.

ComingSoon reports:

Columbia Pictures has refashioned its new version of the 1984 hit The Karate Kid as a star vehicle for Jaden Smith, reports Variety.

The film will be produced by Jerry Weintraub (who launched the original franchise) and Overbrook Entertainment’s James Lassiter, Jaden’s father Will Smith and Ken Stovitz.

Remakes are inevitable in Hollywood, and this one might offer up some feel good fluff that we just love to see in family films. Kids will love it, and most of the target demographic will have never even heard of the Karate Kid or even be able to quote Mr Miagi’s forced Asian lines. No word yet as to Steven Chow playing Miagi, as originally hoped.

So the movie will cling to the core premise that a bullied kid learns Karate to stand up for himself. I would have perferred this be more of a highschool story, but with 10 year old Jaden Smith at the top of billing, this just got downgraded to family fluff. At least Jaden is somewhat of a martial arts enthusiast, so at least the moves might look convincing.

I don’t think Karate Kid is “sacred” so it could benefit from a remake to find its place in this generation. Could be the stepping stone for Smith’s son to get into big pictures. So without going into some weak “no ideas left in Hollywood” rant, is this something you would at least rent?

Comment with Facebook

42 thoughts on “Jaden Smith is the Karate Kid

  1. @Nic82 … are you new to watching movies?

    Money. EVERYTHING Hollywood does is motivated by money. They provide entertainment, and remakes make money and hopefully are entertaining. But its simple. Money.

    Why do bands cover other band’s music? You think they are “doing it better” or are they just entertaining?

  2. If they do bring back the Cobra Kai i’d be happy, hell bring back Ralph as the Evil Dojo Guy.

    The Yakuza idea is cool toolike they idolize them or soemthing but aren’t the kids in the 10 years old range, i don’t know much about the Yakuza but i don’t think they recruit that young do they lol :P

    Just remeber to go for the sweeps!

  3. then why remake it if they dont want to ‘fix’ it by making it better?
    i think this would work better if they made it part of the franchise and didnt call it a remake.

  4. Unfortunately Hollywood is doing it again. Trying to fix something that ain’t broke. When will they leave classic films alone, or any film for that matter classic or not. Once it is done it’s done. Give some new talent ago. I’m sure there are plenty of writers out there that could have come up with a fantastic martial arts script for this kid if it’s what he wants to do, instead they ruin a good film. I know it’s not the kid fault. To tell ya the truth I thought he had smarter parents, once with a little integrity and originality… Guess i was wrong.

  5. @Leandro…. so all those hundreds of original movies that get released every year dont matter because of the 5-10 remakes?

    Thats a pretty narrow point of view.

    I think you just have no more original thoughts about movies except to accuse them of being unoriginal… which in itself is inaccurate and unoriginal.

  6. Took this long before we got a “No more original ideas in Hollywood” rant.

    A filmmaker’s goal is to make a film. And guess what. This will be a film.

    Don’t like it, dont see it. Simple

  7. The original is sacred for the same reason all originals are sacred–they were original. Modernization doesn’t necessarily make films better; the filmmaker’s goal is to document the human condition at a given time and place. In this case, we’re in a time and place of rampant overcompensation to cover glaring weaknesses in humanity as technology continues to change who we are and how we interact. Not to get all existentialist on you and shit, but casting [insert pop star]’s little sister as the love interest isn’t an improvement…it’s a Disney-fied travesty. It’s commercialism run amok. It’s taking your money and giving you nothing substantial in exchange. I’ll take the Fresh Prince of Bel Air over Legend any day of the week.

  8. Some people get it in their head that ALL remakes are wrong and that the originals are always sacred.

    If done right you can remake anything though I don’t think that you CAN means you should.

  9. @Phil Gee, my baby daddy

    I don’t think he’s a BAD actor, but he’s nothing remarkable. Everyone goes on about how good he was in Pursuit of Happyness…well no shit, he was acting with his dad! Not hard to act all sad and shit when your father is crying in front of you. I like that movie, but I just don’t buy the hype of this kid as the next great kid actor. If he doesn’t irritate me in The Day The Earth Stood Still, I might retract my statement, but until then, meh.

    Not to mention the fact that I saw him with his dad on Oprah last week, and that kid is one arrogant little motherfucker.

  10. Kristina, I might be inclined to think the same thing except I do think the kid is talented and not annoying (always a rarity among child actors).

    You know, a Karate Kid remake is something I could really get excited about. Even if it were made specifically for a younger age group, as long as it stays true to the spirit of the original then it could be a great film.

    What made the original special for me was that it took the universal theme of bullying and how to deal with it, and made a high energy popcorn flick out of it. I can’t think of anything more inspiring to a poor kid who is being bullied in real life than watching a fantasy about another kid who becomes a karate fighting machine so nobody can fuck with him anymore. I want this film made and I want it made good.

    ps. Cobra Kai never dies.

  11. A lot of acting jobs are had because of someone they know. I don’t have a problem with Jaden getting into movies using his dad’s name if he’s good.

    I’m not at all intersted in this reboot, so maybe I’ll catch it on cable at some point.

  12. When he has 5 movies to his name and never works again… yeah. I will call nepotism.

    But if my dad got me a good paying job I wouldn’t care. I still have to prove I can keep that job. Let Hollywood judge his longevity. Who cares if they had an in.

    Everyone gets an in somewhere.

  13. The only problem I have with this is that there’s already one or two of the Karate Kid movies on TV every week on basic cable. They get so much airplay, I’d be surprised if today’s kids haven’t seen them.

    Otherwise, I guess it’d be okay. Will Smith in charge, potential Stephen Chow – doesn’t sound like a trainwreck yet.

  14. Elizabeth Shue isn’t sacred enough to keep her around for the sequels. She was so nice to him in the first movie then she wrecks his car and dumps him like he doesnt matter?

    Totally replaceable. lol

    Just sayin.

  15. Hmm…..I’m not sure what to think about this…The original was pretty good, and if they want to remake/reboot it, I don’t want to see some dumbed-down kiddie flick with whiny brats and fart jokes.

  16. Yes, I would rent this. Jayden is a cutie and I wonder if mine an Will’s babies will look that adorable? I agree with Total Jiu Jitsu that a teenager playing that role in this decade would be incredibly cheesy. I do hope they tone down the Asian stereotypes though or at least make them campy enough to be making fun of themselves. Wax on Wax off, paz out.

  17. oh im really hping this kid turns out good. (yes. im only saying this because he is will smiths son)

    dude i named my cat after this movie because she was born on earth day…..”BONZI!”

Leave a Reply