Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan redo The Karate Kid

Jaden Smith is really turning out to be quote they superstar. After finishing the film with his father, and then showing up Keanu Reeves in The Day The Earth Stood Still (hard not to show up that fiasco of acting), he is now out in China with Jackie Chan. That’s a pretty impressive summer job he has for himself.

Considering his age, and the general trends of Hollywood, it’s impressive to see that he is growing in his abilities and that directors are taking notice. The only real shame is that so far he has not really been in a huge success. Yes the films with Reeves and his dad made money. But they are not big hits.

The latest film, Kung Fu Kid, is a revisioning of The Karate Kid. While I generally despise revisioned films, the inclusion of Jackie Chan makes this interesting. It will take place in Bejing, is current day, and will emphasize the abilities of Jaden. This very well could be a huge hit for this young actor.

Of course the fact that his father is one of the producers, plus the fame of Chan, and then add in the nostalgia for the original, and you have a film that should definitely be a hit. Except there is one hitch in the film. The director.

That would be Harald Zwart. He was responsible for the flops One Night At McCool’s and the revisioned refuse Pink Panther 2. The only other film he has done that you might know internationally is Agent Cody Banks, which was decent but no blockbuster.

How this director was attached to this project is unknown to me, but likely the only thing that could cause the film to be worthless. Well that and writer’s that have no clue what made the original worth watching.

If this does turn out to be a hit film, I think that Jaden will be well on his way to a career that will exceed his father. Considering that Will Smith is familiar with working his way to the top, has had the experience of losing it all, and knows the fickle nature of critics and fans I expect that Jaden will be well prepared for added fame. This is one child actor that should never see the front page of a tabloid – except for any woman he might date.

If this film fails though, I expect that it will be the fault of the director. Based on his trend, this is an uphill battle. Still a bit of failure may be just the thing to keep his head from getting bigger than his britches. In fact I think that every child star should have some degree of failure to help balance out their expectations. Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan are great examples of the potential if they don’t.

The film will be out in 2010 I expect. So there should not be too much time for speculation. Either way I think it will be another step forward for Jaden Smith. Hopefully it will be just the thing for his 12th birthday.

A karate chop to your funnybone

OK, here is a scary thought. Take an iconic film from the 1980's and give it a remake. Considering the films of the 80's there is no end to the chills you may get.

In this case there is a potential silver lining in the making. Actually 2. But first the film. It's the Karate Kid. Yes I know, of all the films someone could remake, why pick that? Probably because the martial arts films have been doing quiet well for over a decade now and you can't even have an action film without some in it. Just look at any Transporter movie. Or virtually any film in recent years by Jason Statham.

But before you decide to commit hari kari, you may want to consider the silver lining. It both indicates this could be an idea that is worth watching, or confirms the doom of all movies for the next decade.


This film might star Jackie Chan, and Will Smith's son Jaden.

There is no need to describe Jackie Chan. But I will anyway. He is the biggest martial arts action film actor in the world. He is probably only second to Bruce Lee in popularity, even throughout America. And at a crisp age of 50-something he is still someone a bar full of people would never want to piss off. The man is an icon, and considering he does his own stunts comparing him to any other action star makes them look like a wuss.


As for Jaden Smith, he has his fathers genes. He was the best, and probably the only good thing, in the recent remake The Day The Earth Stood Still (with a miserable performance by Keanu Reeves). In that movie, correction extended pro-ecology infomercial, he was the one character that was believable, consistent and interesting. And if we consider his work with his dad in The Pursuit of Happiness, much the same can be said of his work there.

In fact, I think that it is highly likely we will see a lot more of Jaden. As long as he stops working in remakes. Even if by some chance this one works out.

And yes you can read it, I have a doubt. It's not Chan nor Smith that concerns me. I doubt Hollywood. I can't see them committing to the story.

Without question some Hollywood exec is going to want to play up the laughs in the film since Chan can do comedy. And they will want a needless and plot-killing action sequence just to show off what Chan can do. And then we will likely get an overly sappy cuteness for Smith. So it will end up being all the extremes of the original film, thrown together without regard for the original storyline - which will likely be thrown out completely if the history if remakes in the last decade is any example.

Could this idea work? Yes. The talent is definitely there. But the greed of Hollywood studios and the laziness of scriptwriters weighs heavy in my mind. Either way this is something that deserves more attention as details get fleshed out.

Update on The Day The Earth Stood Still

Way back in August this year I mentioned my preview of The Day The Earth Stood Still. In that preview I had only one video clip of the film to judge the revisioning of the 1951 classic by. And I stated that it would be more of a waste of money than the total auto industry bailout - well not the bailout but a waste of time. But I also made a couple of assumptions.



While I am right that this film is a disservice to the original, and is yet another example of why a revisioned film is a pathetic excuse for Hollywood to say something no one wants to see/hear, I did get something wrong.

"And there is the benefit of appealing to women with the hint of the line

“If the Earth dies, you die. If you die, the Earth survives."

Such a hokey line and idea never was in the first film, but I’m sure it will garner positive reviews from women’s groups because she is so important to the world."

Wrong. The line is not meant about the one woman it is said to but about mankind in total. Of course I was placing the importance of that singular female character on a high category, which it was in the first film along with her son. But then again I am not an eco-fanatic nor am I a far-left Hollywood writer or movie studio exec. Films might be better if I were, or at least remakes I think.

The line in fact refers to the ecology of the Earth. We humans are destroying it and so some alien needs to come down and save our planet from us. Basically an alien version of Greenpeace and PETA mixed together without that much peace. Thank you Hollywood for giving us your political commentary yet again.

I also stated in my original preview

"The new film will likely lose all the nuance, and subtle political message of the original film. In fact I expect the film will make a political point like using a sledgehammer to open a sunflower seed."

Well a 25 foot tall robot could definitely be a sledgehammer. Or the plague of microbots and their erasive nature. But the point was correct. Be green or else is the only mission, plot and image this film wants to convey. Which is fine if you want to be at an Al Gore rally. But when I spend $9 just to get a ticket, and give up 2 hours of my life, I prefer to be entertained.

Film has long ago given messages in the stories that it presents. For America, most of the films that were solely focused on this were called B-films, and were laughable. Today we see a Hollywood that could make Ed Wood proud. Hollywood gives us over the top, often CGI enhanced, massively budgeted, political commentary in the guise of something we liked in the past and are lured in to see again. In essence we are just throwing away good money and time for a stump speech that does do more than annoy and infuriate because we were given a bait-n-switch flim-flam. [They could have just given the entire budget to Greenpeace, PETA, and various global warming groups and saved the planet their carbon emissions and wasting out time.]

I stand by my original postulation on The Day The Earth Stood Still. It will make some money because of the effects and the stars in the film (notably Keanu Reeves and Jaden Smith, not to mention Jennifer Connelly). But this will ultimately be a failure. It will fail to do justice to the original film, the original message, the writing, and the entertainment value we expect to receive for our money.

I don't think I can say it more bluntly.