The other day I was just thinking, “wouldn’t it be cool to remake The Karate Kid? Make a 2000s version of the 80s classic?” Lo and behold, here it is:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2pcpfzYXEQ]
Well they’d better call it “The Kung Fu Kid” because it’s now set in China, and Jackie Chan plays the Miyagi character!
The setting has a lot of potential – I’m delighted to see the US expat experience depicted in a mainstream film.
On the other hand, I’m afraid of how they will treat the clash of cultures. Will they resolve the boy’s conflict with his Chinese peers in an evenhanded let’s-understand-each-other-as-equals way, or will it just have the usual triumph-of-the-American-Imperialist ending? (Or will they avoid treating the issues in anything but a superficial way, a la Lost In Translation?)
The “Karate” title has me worried – mis-labeling the actual martial art being practiced is, at best, seriously disrespectful of the setting.