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"When the Karate Kid and his Mom arrive at the airport, their lady driver is holding a sign for 'Mrs. Packer.' Mom corrects the lady driver, telling her the name's 'Parker.' Ah, Engrish!"
-The Internet is affirming my refusal to see 'The Karate Kid' remake.
Even as a young kid in the 80s, I always hated "The Karate Kid" due to the fact that Daniel was a huge pussy.
Chinese Bily Zabka could never beat the original.
Billy Zabka would paper cut his Chinese doppleganger to death with his Academy Award nomination certificate.
I will only see "Karate Kid: Redux" when Jaden Smith stars in a "My Cousin Vinny" remake. Also, wouldn't Jonah Hill be a great replacement Joe Pesci?
I'm already calling J.K. Simmons to do the James Rebhorn, Lane Smith, Fred Gwynne, and Marisa Tomei roles.
It's in Disgrasian's interest to come down hard on this remake. Nothing traffics better than criticism and Disgrasian has no truck in saying anything positive about ANY depiction of any Asian in pop culture. The "Amazians" section is reserved for real, accomplished Asians only.
http://disgrasian.com/tag/amazians/
As American films go (though this one had Chinese partners), The Karate Kid remake was quite fair. As fair, anyway, as a one-dimensional feel-good teeny bopper film could hope to be.
In the eyes of a site like Disgrasian, producers of this film faced an impossibility. Make the Chinese characters unbelievably "normal" and be accused of whitewashing them. Add some realism and be accused of "Engrish." I lived in China for years and you know what everyone called me? "Aber." The Mrs. Packer bit? That's real. If Karate Kid revisited that joke in the film, it would be disgraceful and worth criticism. But they did not. In fact, the film was almost never went for the low jokes.
The girl asks to touch the kid's hair. That actually happens t foreigners there all the time. No joke.
The most insulting bit of the film is the little magic thing Chan does to heal the kid. But that's a carry over from the original, which does not excuse it but… what did Obama say lately? Something about the good being abandoned or criticized because it's not perfect?
BTW, Jackie Chan is excellent in this film. Certainly as good as sandra bullock was in that Blind Side stinker, and she won an Oscar.
Also, from a racial perspective, and a general commentary on the audience that saw this film by the tens of millions. The Karate Kid remake had one white actor. One. And he was limited to a tiny bit part of about 30 total screen seconds. I defy anyone to name a summer blockbuster film that attained a number one position without a single somewhat central white character. Tyler Perry films have more white characters than Karate Kid.
I haven't looked into it too much, but have been wondering: why is this one also called "The Karate Kid" if the kid learns Kung Fu? I know, keep the franchise name, but, a little confusing?
Then the driver says, "Funny, everyone in Hollywood tells me this kid's dad is a Fudge Packer."