Not sure what happened to my previous review but here we go again.
I get a ton of people were very upset about this movie. Did you even watch The Karate kid part 2 3 and the Next Karate kid? The first movie has many flaws as well with poor choreography. Mr Morita was very slow with his moves. I get that he was old but it kind of throws off some of the realism. Part 2 was nice because we got to see some new locations and the stakes were heightened as instead of fighting against bullies, the two have to fight for their lives. It wasn't as good but is still a very watchable movie. Because we get to see the characters further developed.
The third movie is where this series falls apart. Mr. Miyagi and Daniels past relationships were thrown away again. This time Daniel finds a new love interest but she has a boyfriend so that will be over at the end of this movie too. And now people are out to seek revenge against Daniel by.. Making him lose in a tournament again? Finally we get to The Next Karate Kid. This movie was horrible all around. Mr Miyagi is a bumbling idiot who knows Karate. Hilary Swank was completely unrelatable. I didn't find her even attractive. She learned how to do a mantis kick and hit some bags and she turned into the same type of fighter Daniel was. We are never lead to believe she is in horrible danger because we are never shown her in any actual danger. She is annoying the whole film while learning nothing by the end of the movie.
Those three paragraphs feel like I am reviewing a series but it raises a point. Was the 2010 Karate Kid as bad as films 3 and 4? Not even close. Those of you who rated this movie less than a 4. Did you even watch these other movies? Let's get the easy things out of the way. Sherry (Dre's mom) is nearly pointless in this movie. She helps drive the plot by taking him to China for a... transfer after the original company shut down? She speaks no Chinese but we don't know why she is so important they sent her or someone who actually understands the language. Jaden's acting is pretty rough but I'll get to that later as to why I think it actually works in this film. There is no karate in the Karate Kid. Instead it is Kung Fu. They even make the name kind of a joke when Sherry asks Dre if he doesn't like that Karate class. The whole movie feels awkward.
Now the controversy. This movie for me is kind of a guilty pleasure. We have a black kid in a mostly Chinese neighborhood. He doesn't know the language, culture or anything non-American. He is a stubborn boy who doesn't want to know anything. That turns him into a whiny little Sh##. But remember. He is 10. I think this was one of Jaden's first movies so I kind of give him a pass. He behaves exactly like a 10 year old would. I'm taking my ball and going home! These are the same types of fights a typical child might get into if he has a hot head and doesn't fit in. He is not Mr. Suave who can talk his way out of any situation. I don't want to pull the "because he is black..." card but if you've never been stereotyped before because of your race/nationality, then you don't really know what its like being seen as a foreigner in another country. I've seen arguments that this would never happen because Honor is so well taught. Except IRL, we saw famous K-pop artists getting caught committing voyeur cam crimes. While I personally feel very safe Asian big cities, petty crime and gangs still exist. Honor is important but it is not like it is as strong as the force. Saving face is far more important in Chinese culture. Jackie was great in this film. He mimicked a lot of Morita's magic while creating some of his own (flyswatter). We saw some comedy from Jackie's facial expressions and I felt some real pain with the car scene. As for the Jacket scene. If you don't like that.. you can blame Jackie. The directors said in a BTS scene they wanted a unique wax on, wax off moment and this is what Jackie came up with. It works as children leave their toys everywhere and don't want to pick up after themselves. This scene made me wow because how intense Jackie was while Jaden was looking star struck. I enjoyed the locations we got to visit, I enjoyed the fresh take. I enjoyed most of our main characters and I think this film has a lot going for it. If you're watching Cobra Kai, you don't need to watch this movie but it is still a fun time. I give it a 6.5 rating rounded up for IMDB. I feel like it is on par with the original film perhaps a small step down. But this is Far greater than film 3 and 4.
I get a ton of people were very upset about this movie. Did you even watch The Karate kid part 2 3 and the Next Karate kid? The first movie has many flaws as well with poor choreography. Mr Morita was very slow with his moves. I get that he was old but it kind of throws off some of the realism. Part 2 was nice because we got to see some new locations and the stakes were heightened as instead of fighting against bullies, the two have to fight for their lives. It wasn't as good but is still a very watchable movie. Because we get to see the characters further developed.
The third movie is where this series falls apart. Mr. Miyagi and Daniels past relationships were thrown away again. This time Daniel finds a new love interest but she has a boyfriend so that will be over at the end of this movie too. And now people are out to seek revenge against Daniel by.. Making him lose in a tournament again? Finally we get to The Next Karate Kid. This movie was horrible all around. Mr Miyagi is a bumbling idiot who knows Karate. Hilary Swank was completely unrelatable. I didn't find her even attractive. She learned how to do a mantis kick and hit some bags and she turned into the same type of fighter Daniel was. We are never lead to believe she is in horrible danger because we are never shown her in any actual danger. She is annoying the whole film while learning nothing by the end of the movie.
Those three paragraphs feel like I am reviewing a series but it raises a point. Was the 2010 Karate Kid as bad as films 3 and 4? Not even close. Those of you who rated this movie less than a 4. Did you even watch these other movies? Let's get the easy things out of the way. Sherry (Dre's mom) is nearly pointless in this movie. She helps drive the plot by taking him to China for a... transfer after the original company shut down? She speaks no Chinese but we don't know why she is so important they sent her or someone who actually understands the language. Jaden's acting is pretty rough but I'll get to that later as to why I think it actually works in this film. There is no karate in the Karate Kid. Instead it is Kung Fu. They even make the name kind of a joke when Sherry asks Dre if he doesn't like that Karate class. The whole movie feels awkward.
Now the controversy. This movie for me is kind of a guilty pleasure. We have a black kid in a mostly Chinese neighborhood. He doesn't know the language, culture or anything non-American. He is a stubborn boy who doesn't want to know anything. That turns him into a whiny little Sh##. But remember. He is 10. I think this was one of Jaden's first movies so I kind of give him a pass. He behaves exactly like a 10 year old would. I'm taking my ball and going home! These are the same types of fights a typical child might get into if he has a hot head and doesn't fit in. He is not Mr. Suave who can talk his way out of any situation. I don't want to pull the "because he is black..." card but if you've never been stereotyped before because of your race/nationality, then you don't really know what its like being seen as a foreigner in another country. I've seen arguments that this would never happen because Honor is so well taught. Except IRL, we saw famous K-pop artists getting caught committing voyeur cam crimes. While I personally feel very safe Asian big cities, petty crime and gangs still exist. Honor is important but it is not like it is as strong as the force. Saving face is far more important in Chinese culture. Jackie was great in this film. He mimicked a lot of Morita's magic while creating some of his own (flyswatter). We saw some comedy from Jackie's facial expressions and I felt some real pain with the car scene. As for the Jacket scene. If you don't like that.. you can blame Jackie. The directors said in a BTS scene they wanted a unique wax on, wax off moment and this is what Jackie came up with. It works as children leave their toys everywhere and don't want to pick up after themselves. This scene made me wow because how intense Jackie was while Jaden was looking star struck. I enjoyed the locations we got to visit, I enjoyed the fresh take. I enjoyed most of our main characters and I think this film has a lot going for it. If you're watching Cobra Kai, you don't need to watch this movie but it is still a fun time. I give it a 6.5 rating rounded up for IMDB. I feel like it is on par with the original film perhaps a small step down. But this is Far greater than film 3 and 4.