Hollywood Remakes The Karate Kid
'80s Classic with Ralph Macchio, Pat Morito Remade for Big Screen
May 15, 2009
“Wax on, wax off” became the catch phrase of a generation. Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), Daniel-san (Ralph Macchio) and karate became all the rage. The Karate Kid debuted in 1984 to great success. The movie grossed over $90,000,000 at the box office and has been a continued sensation for following generations. It’s an underdog story of an out-of-place kid, Daniel, who learns karate and life lessons from a Japanese handyman, Mr. Miyagi, in his apartment building.
The Karate Kid’s lessons and catch phrases have influenced pop culture and even spurred three follow-up movies. Hollywood is trying to recapitalize on the initial success by remaking the original with some twists.
The Karate Kid Remake
Will Smith will be producing The Karate Kid which is scheduled to hit theatres in June of 2010. His son Jaden will be playing the Daniel Larusso character made famous by Ralph Macchio. The character will be renamed Dre. The Mr. Miyagi character, made famous by the late Pat Morita, will be played by Jackie Chan and has been renamed Mr. Han.
Instead of Daniel and his single mother moving from New Jersey to California, Dre and his single mother move to China. Dre, like the original Daniel, gets picked on and beat up. That’s where the similarities stop.
In the remake, Dre is singled out because he’s new and doesn’t speak Chinese. Mr. Han spots young Dre with a black eye playing a martial arts game on a Wii. He then takes Dre under his wing teaching him Chinese and Kung-Fu.
In the original, Mr. Miyagi is Japanese and teaches Daniel karate. The film had been rumored to be titled Kung Fu Kid but producers have decided to remain with The Karate Kid even though Dre learns Kung-Fu not karate.
Reactions
Reactions have been varied but have flowed more to the side of negative. Even the original Daniel-san had a few words about the remake. According to UK’s Metro, Macchio told MTV News “It feels pretty good that some people are pretty angry that they're trying to remake The Karate Kid," he said. "It feels good that the public feels you don't touch certain things. Sometimes you go back to that and probably shouldn't."
He goes on to say that recapturing Mr. Miyagi’s magic is going “to be the toughest task.”
Erin Nolan from Film.com calls the news of a remake “blasphemy” and writes an article entitled “Five Reasons the Karate Kid Remake Will Be a Disaster”. Her five main points are as follows:
- The franchise has already been tarnished due to the multiple so-so remakes.
- The director’s track record doesn’t exactly read as a who’s who of box office gold. Past directorial endeavors include Agent Cody Banks and Pink Panther 2.
- Mr. Miyagi is from Japan, not China as Mr. Han is in the remake. Nolan has a problem with the remake “messing with his heritage.”
- Jaden Smith is too young. The original Daniel is an angst-ridden teen who romances Elisabeth Shue. With Jaden being only 10 years old, Nolan thinks the movie will lose some of its audience and appeal. She also wonders if the age change has anything to do with the fact Jaden is Will’s son.
- With all the changes, she states, “how is the The Karate Kid again?” She feels the changes make it less about remaking “The Karate Kid” and more about “another rip-off” that is riding the coattails of a classic name.
For more on the original The Karate Kid, visit Suite101.com writer Emily Caswell’s article The Karate Kid: A Cult Classic.
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