The Karate Kid – re-done…

[almostwitty]

So… they’re trampling over my childhood by re-making The Karate Kid. Only this time, Jackie Chan gets to mentor Will Smith’s son. Which instinctively seems a bit odd for no apparent reason.

Fortunately, Jeff Yang’s fascinating article on how martial arts was popularised in the US by black people seems to actually make sense. Although I’m not sure Jackie Chan will be anywhere near as charming as Pat Morita.

Still, maybe its’ reappearance will finally mean that when I start muttering “You, beginner luck!” under my breath, people might actually get the reference. Certainly, references to The Karate Kid were aplenty during my time in that ill-fated British-Chinese comedy sketch group…

Mirrored from almost witty.

Comments

[cindas.livejournal.com]

I can't believe they're remaking it. Well, I can because it's HollyBloodyWood but still. Some films should just be left alone :(

[hellmutt.livejournal.com]

Oi! Hollywood! No! Remakes sdfsdfDFSDFdsfsdfdFDS stop it stop it stop it! If you can't think of anything original, there must be thousands of books out of copyright that have never been filmed.

Also, pardon my laughable ignorance, isn't karate Japanese?

[almostwitty]

Karate is Japanese, and Pat Morita is/was Japanese-American.

I think the remake was originally entitled the Kung-Fu Kid, which would be more accurate, but it wouldn't have the branding cachet that Kung-Fu Kid would have. Maybe they'll call it The Karate Kid in the West, and Kung-Fu Kid in the East...

[twisted-times.livejournal.com]

More specifically, Karate originated in Okinawa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okinawa).

Interesting statistic from the Wikipedia article above: "Okinawa accounts for less than one percent of Japan's land, but hosts about two-thirds of the 40,000 American forces in the country."

[actionreplay.livejournal.com]

interesting article, thanks. Now, wax on, wax off!