The Karate Kid (2010)
Directed by Harald Zwart
Starring Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson
Rated PG
Release date: June 11, 2010

The number one stupid complaint people give in the midst of this sequel/remake craze, besides the fact that they shouldn’t do them, is that too many movies from our childhood are being ruined. I never understood that logic. You like the movies you like, for whatever reason it may be. No matter how bad it is, nothing that comes after it is enough to take away whatever it was that made you like it in the first place. The franchise may be tainted, but the movies within that canon that you loved aren’t impacted. For example, if this Ghostbusters 3 movie ever gets off the ground and sucks, the first one will still be a classic.

I’ve reexamined a lot of my favorite movies from my youth lately and realized that a lot of them really aren’t that good. I liked them at the time and that has carried over to me still liking them, but usually for nostalgic reasons. I am unapologetic about it, but truth be told, they are what they are. That said, comparing a current remake to one we hold dear from back in the day doesn’t usually have a fighting chance for that very reason.

Then there’s the new The Karate Kid.

It’s the week of Christmas and as was assumed, the movie news is slow as slow can be. But there has been no slowing down for movie trailers and clips, and today brings the first trailer for the feared and unnecessary remake of the 1984 Ralph Macchio nostalgia-fest, The Karate Kid.

The remake stars Jaden Smith (The Day After Tomorrow), son of Will Smith, in the Daniel-san role, and Jackie Chan in the Mr. Miyagi role made famous by the late, great Pat Morita. While the premise is indeed the same, in this movie, the characters will not be; Smith is playing Dre Parker and Chan is called Mr. Han. Smith’s character and his mother (Taraji P. Henson) move to the faraway lands of China where he obviously doesn’t fit in at all. After an interaction with a young lady sees him getting a beating from a martial arts inclined boy, Chan takes him under his wing to teach him how to defend himself, citing “the only way to stop them, is to face them.”

Continue on to watch the trailer for The Karate Kid.