How To Ruin A Modern Classic

Perhaps you’ve heard they’re remaking The Karate Kid. Whatever details you’ve gleaned so far, it gets worse.

It’s going to star Jayden Smith, Will Smith’s son who costarred with him in The Pursuit of Happyness. When filming starts next year, he’ll be 11. Yes, 11.

The other bit of ridiculousness is that much of the filming will be in Beijing, where the movie is set. Now how can you have a karate movie in China? The cultural ignorance is staggering. At the very least they should call it The Kung Fu Kid.

This is just another in a long line of Karate Kid ripoffs, like Showdown (starring Billy Blanks) and the recent Never Back Down. In fact, both of those movies are way closer in plot than the new remake. Seriously, who wants to see 11 year olds beat the shit out of each other? I got enough of that in 5th grade.

3 thoughts on “How To Ruin A Modern Classic”

  1. I always welcome remakes of films from the black&white era. Especially if a writer’s imaginative epic storytelling was limited by what a motion picture was capable of at the time. However I see nothing to gain from remaking an 80’s classic. First of all, The Karate Kid defined a successful 80’s flick. The super Italian new kid in the neighborhood struggling to fit in, the bully who has anger issues and happens to be the ex of the girl who interested in the new kid. Throw in propped-up collars, the arcade, the timeless tournament music,… to sum up my point, this movie couldn’t be written for any other time BUT the 80’s. So why bring it back? Does that flying crane kick really require a matrix style slowdown with 360 camera pan?
    I’ll pass.

    What’s next? Seth Rogan as Rodney Dangerfield in Caddyshack 2010?
    Actually I’d probably watch that.

  2. How about Seth Rogan in Ghost Busters 3?? Actually, Seth was only rumored to act in it. From the interview I read, he didn’t seem like he would do it unless it was a killer script. He was pretty adamant about it. This is what Bill Murray had to say about it:

    http://www.aintitcool.com/node/38496

    Here’s what Ramis (Egon) had to say about the script:

    http://www.hollywood.com/news/Ramis_Plans_Ghostbusters_3_with_Stiller_/3467374

    It would be entertaining to see it remade, but it’d have to have Sigourney Weaver in it or I’ll be severely disappointed. 🙂

    Anyways, the Karate Kid remake is a horrible idea. There’s absolutely no reason to do it. As Archangel mentioned the Billy Banks movie, Showdown, there’s really no need to push the race barrier. It’d kind of been done. Not to mention, Showdown follows most closely to the KK3 plot. Even a woman (Hilary Swank) played the main role in The Next Karate Kid. I like kung fu and karate movies, but I hate the idea of riding the coattails of the long past success of the Karate Kid series. Where’s the originality?

  3. I’ve been hearing about GB3 for a little while now. Not sure how it’s going to play out with most of the original actors in their late 50s/early 60s. Of course, their ghost busting technology would have 24 years of advancement, too. Overall, I’m hopeful. I’d like to see more of Bill Murray.

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