I thought I would hate this remake. A child of the eighties I enjoyed the original “Karate Kid” starring the irresistible Ralph Macchio. Yes, like the majority of teen girls at that time, I was in love with him and in some ways I identified with his plight because as a kid, I was bullied. My grandfather, a strong man and WWII vet, grew tired of picking me up after grade school with cuts and bruises and did the best thing for me. He enrolled me in karate class. My instructor at the time was one bad ass Harold E. Scroggins. Tall brotha who even stopped by my school one year in his karate gee! He was barefoot and everything.
So yeah, I felt Daniel’s pain. My Mr. Miyagi, was Mr. Scroggins. When word hit the net a remake was underway, I was immediately against it. Here goes Hollywood again, destroying my childhood. Even though I like Jaden Smith, (who was excellent in Pursuit of Happyness) I had sworn at that time, I wouldn’t see it. Then positive buzz for the film leaked from ShoWest. I became curious. Rottentomates rated it a 70%. All the more curious.
I checked it out Saturday and well…. I really liked it! I felt the filmmakers did enough to separate this new version from the old while keeping the heart of the original film in tact. Was it as good as the original? No, but it is definitely enjoyable and worth seeing in a theater. Jaden was terrific as Dre, a boy relocates to China after his mother, played more than adequately by the beautiful Taraji Henson, is transferred. As one would gather, he doesn’t fit in. An outsider, his immediate interest for a cute Chinese student makes matters worse and he is ultimately beat-up the day he arrives.
Enter Jackie Chan. Proving yet again how much of an amazing martial artist he is, Chan plays Mr. Han a maintenance man with a wounded heart, who trains Dre to fight in an all or nothing tournament. That particular sequence got the audience excited. People applauded and cheered and I was definitely one of them.
Yes, the 2010 remake or reboot of The Karate Kid was indeed good. It’s a film I plan to add to my library and I will definitely watch the sequel. I give it a 7.5 out of 10.
But, just to end things on a proper note, I leave you Ralph Macchio in this very amusing Funny or Die short.
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