When I first wrote about the new Karate Kid remake/re-do vehicle for Will Smith’s son Jaden Smith, like many of you, I wondered who they’d get to be his Mr. Miyagi.
Variety says we can wonder no longer, because Jackie Chan is in “final negotiations” to play the young bullied kid’s mentor (who is not necessarily named “Mr. Miyagi”). Considering that the original report said that Smith’s mentor would be “unusual,” I’d say Chan totally fits the bill.
This movie’s looking more interesting to me now.
Rob in Japan says:
Hmm. I wonder what this will do to the authenticity of the martial arts…
I work in Japan as an English teacher, and one of my students is a karate instructor. I asked him what he thought of “Best Kid” (the Japanese name for Karate Kid), and he opined that it was an okay movie. I then asked him what he thought of the actual karate in the movie, and he just laughed.
gohanwinner says:
Well while I don’t like the idea of a remake of the movie, I love Jackie Chan even if some of his recent films have been stinkers. (I’m lookin at you Rush Hour 3 and The Tuxedo)
Gordon McAlpin says:
I’m sure Chan can do authentic karate if given the opportunity, but the idea of Chan as Mr. Miyagi is kind of … perturbing in that — if indeed he’s playing “Mr. Miyagi” and not just a “mentor” role by another name — we’ve got yet another American-produced movie where Chinese actors are playing Japanese characters, like in Memoirs of a Geisha. (You can imagine Hollywood execs saying, “Ah, he’s Asian. Close enough.”)
But it’s worth noting that this is also being filmed in and set in China, so clearly this is not exactly a faithful remake. Perhaps Chan isn’t turning Japanese after all.
That would make me feel a little better… but in any case, I think they should rename this the “Kung Fu Kid.”
Genevieve says:
I hope to God this is just a kung-fu movie following the model of Karate Kid instead of a reboot. But then, I’m kind of having a minor breakdown as I’m disillusioned by Hollywood/politics every day. You’d think we’d all know better by now…
That said, if the movie had a shoutout to the Chinese Opera, it would be badass.