So I saw the Karate Kid

**nomamao** · Posted On: 6/15/2010 1:00am

Originally Posted by excludedmiddle

Who knew a front snap kick TO THE CHEST would be such a solid fight ender. Also, I've been soccer kicked in the balls in a real fight before, and for years I've been wondering what makes me so different that I didn't just instantly roll over and die like everyone else.

I also imagine if I were in this situation, I'd be kicked out along with the attacker instead of receiving an apology, and it would probably be a much bigger deal to me that I'm seemingly the only guy in the world capable of pulling off Steven Seagal type fight sequences in real life. But that's just me.

I have also been soccer-kicked in the nuts... first time was in high school and I fell like a ton of bricks; oddly enough, though, later in life I've been able to suck up the pain and still go at it. I living in NYC also should just ask to go to the movies with the OP all the time, as he'd obviously be one hell of a cool guy to party with. I think he's my idol right about now. :bowdown:

**Tsukyomi** · Posted On: 6/15/2010 9:23am

Originally Posted by Res Judicata

The real shame is that he spent good money to see this POS movie. My nieces wanted to see it so I took them. Mistake. Every crappy bullshido Kung Fu cliche added to poor acting and poor writing. It's worse than the original in every way.

The acting is great, writing is great....Jackie Chan's role was pretty awesome!

**Mtripp** · Posted On: 6/15/2010 9:55am

Originally Posted by Craig Jenkins

Wonder if he told these chicks that his screen name is a videogame/anime series character..."call me Alucard ... son of Dracula..."

Actually it predates that by quite a bit.

In the 1940's when Universal decided to bank on Lon Cheany (sp?) JUNIOR; they put him into every one of their monsters. Not just his iconic turn as the wolfman; but as the Frankenstein Monster, the Mummy (worst of the Universal lot because Lon was quite the drunk by then and did not want to sit still for the intense make-up used on Karloff, so he wanted a rubber mask and it showed), and Dracula.

In Universals "Son of Dracula" Lon played the character of "Count Alucard," which in light of the name of the movie made everyone wonder how stupid everyone else in the movie was not to notice the name. But, it was a great B horror movie, and worth a look.

We return you now to your scheduled thread....

**Res Judicata** · Posted On: 6/15/2010 10:10am

Originally Posted by Tsukyomi

The acting is great, writing is great....Jackie Chan's role was pretty awesome!

Chan's acting was decent. The scene with him in the car was pretty powerful, actually. And the mom's acting was good (although quite stereotyped), but as for the rest...no. Just no. Smith's acting was downright bad.

The writing sucked even by escapist standards. You could feel the writers checking the boxes. For example, note how the blonde kid appears to tell us about what's going on in the area. And then he disappears until the very end of the movie, where he's seen cheering in the stands.

Maybe it would have been better if I had never seen the original. The kids in this one were too young for the story, for one. It doesn't work as a coming of age story since everyone involved is prepubescent kid.

Here's another example: in the original, Danny was kind of a loser who moved from Jersey to Resida -- the ass end of no where. Dre is a kind of cool kid who moves to exotic Bejing.

**Snake Plissken** · Posted On: 6/15/2010 10:18am

Originally Posted by jspeedy

Did they play "kung fu fighting"? I instantly hate any movie that plays that song.

U hatin' on Kung Fu Panda, now?

**daishi** · Posted On: 6/15/2010 10:40am

I agree, the kids were waay too young for this, but I'm guessing Pappa Smith couldn't hold out any longer. The whole point of Karete Kid was a coming of age deal with the proper understanding of karate's application to living daily life as its vehicle.

When I was 12, I would have been super pumped to move from Detroit to Beijing.

They copied lines of dialogue straight from the original movie. This is fine, but the way in which they did it (and lines they used), just didn't quite fit in context of the new movie. That or they tried too hard to change some words to make the dialogue applicable to kung fu...which felt awkward.

That being said, the videography (is that a word?) was really well done. The fight scenes were pretty intense albeit with some ridiculous techniques...but that is kind of a tradition in kung fu movies, so I guess it fits.

Oh, and the place they had the final tournament at was pretty damn pimp with the giant video board thing.

**Craig Jenkins** · Posted On: 6/15/2010 2:54pm

Originally Posted by Mtripp

Actually it predates that by quite a bit.
We return you now to your scheduled thread....

Did not think I would learn that, here. Well struck.

To those who've seen it, how do they square the title with the fact that this is in Beijing and Kung Fu?

**DdlR** · Posted On: 6/15/2010 3:05pm

Originally Posted by Craig Jenkins

Did not think I would learn that, here. Well struck.

To those who've seen it, how do they square the title with the fact that this is in Beijing and Kung Fu?

IIRC there are at least two references to karate; once in an update of a scene in the original (the kid is exercising at home to a karate instructional DVD) and again when the kid's mom confuses karate with kung fu (he corrects her).

There's also an amusing scene in which Dre tries to impress Mr. Han (Jackie Chan's character) by listing a few arts he's "studied" before (including capoeira and BJJ).

IMO all it really needed to justify the title was to have shown Dre attempting some beginner-level karate in the early fight scenes, and for the bullies to taunt him by calling him "karate kid". Maybe that was written and the scene ended up on the cutting room floor.

**DdlR** · Posted On: 6/15/2010 3:13pm

Originally Posted by Res Judicata

Chan's acting was decent. The scene with him in the car was pretty powerful, actually. And the mom's acting was good (although quite stereotyped), but as for the rest...no. Just no. Smith's acting was downright bad.

For an 11 year old carrying a 2.5 hour movie, I thought he did a great job.

Maybe it would have been better if I had never seen the original. The kids in this one were too young for the story, for one. It doesn't work as a coming of age story since everyone involved is prepubescent kid.

Yeah, I agree there. On the other hand, I've seen the original many times over the years and was surprised at how much I enjoyed the re-make. Different strokes.

**Rivington** · Posted On: 6/15/2010 3:57pm

Originally Posted by DdlR

IMO all it really needed to justify the title was to have shown Dre attempting some beginner-level karate in the early fight scenes, and for the bullies to taunt him by calling him "karate kid". Maybe that was written and the scene ended up on the cutting room floor.

I remember seeing such a scene in one of the trailers.