''The Karate Kid'' is a 2010

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Harald Zwart Harald Zwart (born 1 July 1965) is a Dutch-Norwegian film director. Life and career Although born in the Netherlands, Zwart was raised in Fredrikstad, Norway. By age eight, he had started making short films. He attended the Dutch Film Academy in ...

, and part of ''The Karate Kid'' series. It stars

Jaden Smith Jaden Christopher Syre Smith (born July 8, 1998), also known mononymously as Jaden, is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He has received various accolades, including a Teen Choice Award, an MTV Movie Award, a BET Award and a Young Artist ...

and

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

in lead roles, and it was produced by

Jerry Weintraub Jerome Charles "Jerry" Weintraub (September 26, 1937 – July 6, 2015) was an American film producer, talent manager and actor whose television films won him three Emmys. He began his career as a talent agent, having managed relatively unknown ...

James Lassiter James Lassiter is an American film producer, known for being co-founder of Overbrook Entertainment and longtime business partner of actor and rapper Will Smith. Career Lassiter attended University of Miami and Temple University and befriended Jef ...

, Ken Stovitz,

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his Will Smith filmography, acting career starring as Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), a ...

and

Jada Pinkett Smith Jada Koren Pinkett Smith (; née Pinkett; born September 18, 1971) is an American actress and talk show host. She is co-host of the Facebook Watch talk show '' Red Table Talk'', for which she has received a Daytime Emmy Award. ''Time'' named ...

. This film does not take place in the same fictional universe as the four previous ''Karate Kid'' films, but is instead a

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...

of the original 1984 film with the setting moved to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and the martial art changed (despite the film's title) from

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

kung fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common ...

. The plot concerns 12-year-old Dre Parker (

), from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, who moves to

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China with his mother (

Taraji P. Henson Taraji Penda Henson ( ; born September 11, 1970) is an American actress. She studied acting at Howard University and began her Hollywood career in guest roles on several television shows before making her breakthrough in '' Baby Boy'' (2001). Sh ...

) and runs afoul of the neighborhood bully Cheng (Zhenwei Wang). He makes an unlikely ally in the form of an aging maintenance man, Mr. Han (

), a

master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

who teaches him the secrets of self-defense. The screenplay was written by Christopher Murphey. The film's music was composed by

James Horner James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American composer. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements, and for his frequent use of motifs associated with Celtic music. Horner's first film score was i ...

. It is an international co-production between

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

took place in Beijing, China, and filming began in July 2009 and ended on October 16. ''The Karate Kid'' was released theatrically worldwide on June 11, 2010, by

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...

. The film received generally favorable reviews and earned $359 million on a $40 million

budget A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmenta ...

Plot

Twelve-year-old Dre Parker leaves

for

after his widowed mother, Sherry, gets a job transfer at a car factory. There, Dre meets Meiying, a young violinist that reciprocates his attention. However, 14-year-old Cheng, a rebellious

Kung Fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common ...

prodigy whose family is close to Meiying's, keeps them apart by constantly attacking, teasing and bullying Dre. As revenge, Dre throws a bucket of dirty water over Cheng and his gang. Enraged, they chase, corner and brutally beat Dre at an alley. Mr. Han, a maintenance man who repaired for Sherry, intervenes and fends off the boys, revealing himself to be a Kung Fu master. Mr. Han heals Dre's injuries using the ancient Chinese medicine methods of

fire cupping Cupping therapy is a form of alternative medicine in which a local suction is created on the skin with the application of heated cups. Its practice mainly occurs in Asia but also in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. Cupping has ...

. He explains that Cheng and his friends are not inherently bad, but made so by Master Li, who teaches his students to be merciless towards their enemies. Intrigued, Dre asks if Han could teach him Kung Fu. Han refuses and instead brings him to Li's Fighting Dragon studio to make peace. Li harshly rebuffs the peace offer and challenges Dre to a fight with Cheng. Mr. Han instead counters that Dre compete against Li's students at the upcoming Kung Fu tournament. He requests that his students leave Dre alone to train until then. Li begrudgingly accepts as long as Dre shows up at the tournament. However, if they do not show up, he will personally hurt them. Mr. Han begins to teach Dre Kung Fu by emphasizing movements that apply to life in general. He conveys that serenity and maturity, not punches and power, are the true keys to mastering Kung Fu. Han makes Dre perform repetitive motions using his jacket. Through this, Dre develops

muscle memory Muscle memory is a form of procedural memory that involves consolidating a specific motor task into memory through repetition, which has been used synonymously with motor learning. When a movement is repeated over time, the brain creates a long-te ...

. Han takes him to a Taoist temple in the

Wudang Mountains The Wudang Mountains () consist of a mountain range in the northwestern part of Hubei, China, just south of Shiyan. They are home to a famous complex of Taoist temples and monasteries associated with the Lord of the North, Xuantian Shangdi. The ...

. There, Dre witnesses a woman making a cobra reflect her movements and later drinks the water from a Taoist well. After many weeks of laborious training, Mr. Han gives Dre a day off. Dre goes to see Meiying, persuading her to cut school for a day of fun. This makes her nearly late for a violin audition, and her parents thus deem Dre a bad influence, forbidding her from ever seeing him again. Dre heads to see Mr. Han, but finds him drunk and depressed, smashing a

car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

he was working on. Mr. Han tearfully explains that he crashed the same car years ago. His wife and 10-year-old son were killed in the crash. He fixes the car every year but smashes it to remind himself of what happened. Dre decides to train harder and help his teacher overcome his trauma. Mr. Han assists Dre in writing and reciting a note of apology in Mandarin to Meiying's father. He accepts the apology, promising that Meiying will attend the tournament to support Dre. At the tournament, the under-confident Dre starts defeating all of his opponents. Enraged, Li orders Liang, one of his students, to injure Dre in the semi-finals. Liang reluctantly does so by delivering a series of crippling blows to Dre's leg. He gets disqualified as a result, and Dre advances to the final against Cheng. Dre pleads with Mr. Han to heal his leg via the fire cupping method. Realizing this is more about overcoming Dre's fear than anything else, Mr. Han complies. The final match starts. On Li's orders, Cheng attacks Dre's injured leg. This causes Dre to lose balance. Dre struggles but manages to get up and uses the snake stance he saw at the temple. The move is successful, and Dre catches Cheng with a kick to the head, defeating him. Dre wins the tournament, earning the respect of Cheng and his classmates. Cheng presents Dre with the trophy and all of the Fighting Dragon students bow down to Mr. Han, accepting him as their new master, leaving Li defeated.

Alternate ending

In a sequence that was shot but cut from the final product, Master Li raises his hand to slap Cheng for not beating Dre in the tournament (he uses this method to punish his disciples), but he is stopped and reprimanded by Mr. Han, who thought that Master Li's students had already suffered too much at his hands. This eventually leads to a Kung Fu battle between Mr. Han and Master Li, who end up facing off in front of a surprised audience, the frightened Fighting Dragons and a shocked, confused, and injured Dre, who even with a

limp A limp is a type of asymmetric abnormality of the gait. Limping may be caused by pain, weakness, neuromuscular imbalance, or a skeletal deformity. The most common underlying cause of a painful limp is physical trauma; however, in the absen ...

, tries to go where Mr. Han is fighting, without understanding what happened. The fight ends as Mr. Han kicks Master Li off the stage where the old master was sitting and furious, leaps from the stage towards Master Li, pinning him down and with his fist raised says against Master Li in Mandarin with a menacing tone: " Do not stop when our enemy is down. No mercy. No mercy in studio. No mercy in competition. No mercy in life. Our enemy deserves pain". Dre and the Fighting Dragons watch from afar. One of the members of the Fighting Dragons tells Mr. Han to knock out Master Li. However, he is stopped by Dre, who says that Master Li has had enough of a beating. Dre and Mr. Han are congratulated by Cheng and the Fighting Dragons as they leave. In the end, Sherry (Dre's mom), along with Meiying, leave with the tournament trophy won by Dre, but not before punching Master Li for his students’ actions against Dre.

Cast

as Dre Parker (). Based on

Daniel LaRusso Daniel LaRusso is a fictional character in the '' Karate Kid'' franchise. He is the main protagonist of the Karate Kid film trilogy and one of the main characters in its spin-off series ''Cobra Kai''. He is portrayed by Ralph Macchio. Overview ...

. *

as Mr. Han (), a Chinese maintenance man who becomes Dre's instructor and mentor. Based on

Mr. Miyagi Mr. Miyagi (June 9, 1925 – November 15, 2011) is a fictional character in the original films (1984-1994) of the ''Karate Kid'' franchise. He is a karate master (portrayed by Pat Morita) who mentors Daniel LaRusso and Julie Pierce. Although he ...

. *

as Sherry Parker (), Dre's mother. Based on Lucille LaRusso. * Wenwen Han () as Meiying (), a violinist and Dre Parker's love interest. Based on Ali Mills. * Zhenwei Wang as Cheng (The Karate Kid
". ''

Film Business Asia ''Film Business Asia'' was a film trade magazine based in Hong Kong. The magazine was created in 2010 by Patrick Frater, former journalist for ''Variety'', ''The Hollywood Reporter'', and '' Screen International'' and Stephen Cremin, co-founder o ...

''. Retrieved on November 10, 2012.) Based on Johnny Lawrence. *

Yu Rongguang Yu Rongguang (; born 30 August 1958), also known as Ringo Yu, is a Chinese actor and martial artist. He is best known for the title role in '' Iron Monkey'' along with Donnie Yen as well as being featured in films such as '' The East Is Red'', ' ...

as Master Li (李师傅 ''Lǐ-shīfu''). Based on

John Kreese John Kreese is a fictional character and the main antagonist in ''The Karate Kid'' media franchise. Portrayed by Martin Kove, he appears as an antagonist in the films ''The Karate Kid'' (1984), ''The Karate Kid Part II'' (1986), ''The Karate Ki ...

. * Luke Carberry as Harry (), a boy who befriends Dre. Based on Freddy Fernandez. * Shijia Lü () as Liang (), a friend and classmate of Cheng's. Based on

Bobby Brown Robert Barisford Brown (born February 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. Brown, alongside frequent collaborator Teddy Riley, is noted as one of the pioneers of new jack swing: a fusion of hip hop and R&B. Brown started h ...

. * Ji Wang () as Mrs. Po (), the principal of Dre's new school. * Zhensu Wu () as Meiying's father. Based on Mr. Mills. * Zhiheng Wang () as Meiying's mother. Based on Mrs. Mills. * Yi Zhao () as Zhuang (), a friend and classmate of Cheng's. Based on Jimmy. * Zhang Bo () as Song (), a friend and classmate of Cheng's. Based on

Tommy Tommy may refer to: People * Tommy (given name) * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...

. * Cameron Hillman as Mark () * Ghye Samuel Brown as Oz ()

Production

Development

A remake of the original ''

Karate Kid ''The Karate Kid'' is a 1984 American martial arts drama film written by Robert Mark Kamen and directed by John G. Avildsen. It is the first installment in the '' Karate Kid'' franchise, and stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue and ...

'' entered the development in the late 2008. ''Variety'' reported at the time that the new film, to be produced by

, "has been refashioned as a star vehicle for

" and that it would "borrow elements from the original plot, wherein a bullied youth learns to stand up for himself with the help of an eccentric mentor".

told a Chinatown, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Chinatown concert crowd in 2009 that he was leaving for

to film the remake as

's teacher. Despite maintaining the original title, the 2010 remake does not feature

, which is from Okinawa (Japan), but focuses on the main character learning

in China. Chan told interviewers that film cast members generally referred to the film as ''The Kung Fu Kid'', and he believed the film would only be called ''The Karate Kid'' in America, and ''The Kung Fu Kid'' in China. This theory held true in the People's Republic of China, where the film is titled ''The Kung Fu Dream'' (). In Japan and South Korea, the film is titled ''Best Kid'' () after the local title of the 1984 film in both countries. Sony had considered changing the title of the film, but

, one of the producers, rejected the idea. Weintraub was also the producer of the original ''Karate Kid''.Horn, John.
Karate Kid' update breaks down some Chinese walls
. ''Los Angeles Times''. May 30, 2010. Retrieved on August 27, 2012.

Filming

The Government of China, Chinese government granted the filmmakers access to the Forbidden City, the Great Wall of China, and the

. On some occasions, the filmmakers had to negotiate with residents who were not accustomed to filming activity.Horn, John.
Karate Kid' update breaks down some Chinese walls
. ''Los Angeles Times''. May 30, 2012. Retrieved on August 27, 2012. The feature started being filmed in July 2009.

Music

Icelandic composer Atli Örvarsson was originally hired to score the film, but he was replaced by American composer

. ''The Karate Kid'' marked Horner's return to scoring after his work on the 2009 film ''Avatar (2009 film), Avatar''. The score was released on June 15, 2010. Justin Bieber and Jaden Smith recorded the official Theme music, theme song to the film "Never Say Never (Justin Bieber song), Never Say Never", written by Adam Messinger, Bieber, Travis Garland, Omarr Rambert, and others, and produced by The Messengers (producers), The Messengers (Adam Messinger and Nasri (singer/songwriter), Nasri Atweh). The music video was released on May 31, 2010. The film started with "Do You Remember (Jay Sean song), Do You Remember" by Jay Sean featuring Sean Paul and Lil Jon. "Remember the Name" by Fort Minor was used in the trailer to promote the movie. Parts of the song, "Back in Black (song), Back in Black" by AC/DC and "Higher Ground (Stevie Wonder song)#Red Hot Chili Peppers version, Higher Ground" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, were also used in the film. The song "Hip Song" by Rain (entertainer), Rain is used for promotion in the Asian countries and it appeared in the trailer. The music video was released on May 22, 2010. "Bang Bang" by K'naan featuring Adam Levine and "Say (John Mayer song), Say" by John Mayer are also featured in the movie. It also features Lady Gaga's "Poker Face (Lady Gaga song), Poker Face", Flo Rida's "Low (Flo Rida song), Low" and Gorillaz' "Dirty Harry (song), Dirty Harry" (being performed in Chinese). An abbreviated form of Frédéric Chopin's Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. posth. (Chopin), Nocturne No. 20 is featured, arranged for strings, in Meiying's violin audition scene, along with Sergei Rachmaninoff's piano transcription of "Flight of the Bumblebee" by Rimsky-Korsakov.

Release

The film premiered May 26, 2010, in Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, with appearances by

and

, and a brief surprise appearance from

. In the Mainland China version of the film, scenes of bullying were shortened by the censors, and a kissing scene is removed. John Horn of the ''Los Angeles Times'' said that the editing ultimately resulted in "two slightly different movies".

Home media

''The Karate Kid'' was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 5, 2010, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, and it was released on Mastered in Ultra HD Blu-ray, 4K Blu-ray on May 14, 2013.

Reception

Critical response

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 66% based on 211 reviews, and an average rating of 6.17/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "It may not be as powerful as the 1984 edition, but the 2010 ''Karate Kid'' delivers a surprisingly satisfying update on the original". Metacritic, another review aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 61 out of 100 based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, the highest of the franchise. Ann Hornaday described Jaden Smith as a "revelation", who "proves that he's no mere beneficiary of dynastic largesse. Somber, self-contained and somehow believable as a kid for whom things don't come easily, he never conveys the sense that he's desperate to be liked. Which is precisely why ''The Karate Kid'' winds up being so likable itself". Roger Ebert of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' gave it a positive review, rating the film three and a half out of four stars, and calling it "a lovely and well-made film that stands on its own feet". Claudia Puig of ''USA Today'' and Owen Gleiberman of ''Entertainment Weekly'' each rated the film a 'B', stating "the chemistry between Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan grounds the movie, imbuing it with sincerity and poignance" and that the film is "fun and believable". Simon Abrams of ''Slant Magazine'' gave the film one and a half stars and noted that "the characters just aren't old enough to be convincing in their hormone-driven need to prove themselves" and "this age gap is also a huge problem when it comes to the range that these kids bring to the project" and noted the portrayal of the child antagonist Cheng includes an "overblown and overused grimace, which looks like it might have originally belonged to Dolph Lundgren, looks especially silly on a kid that hasn't learned how to shave yet". Finally, Abrams noted: "What's most upsetting is Dre's budding romance with Meiying. These kids have yet to hit puberty and already they're swooning for each other".

Box office

The film was released on June 11, 2010, by Columbia Pictures to 3,663 theaters across the United States. ''The Karate Kid'' topped the box office on its opening day, grossing $18.8 million, and in its opening weekend, grossing $56 million in North America, beating ''The A-Team (film), The A-Team'', which grossed an estimated $9.6 million on the same opening day, and $26 million in its opening weekend. It closed on September 18, after 101 days of release, grossing $176 million in the US and Canada along with an additional $182 million overseas for a worldwide total of $359 million, on a moderate budget of $40 million.

Awards and nominations

People's Choice Awards 2011 * Favorite Family Movie (Nominated) * Favorite On-Screen Team – Jaden Smith & Jackie Chan (Nominated) * Favorite Action Star – Jackie Chan (Won) 2011 Kids' Choice Awards * Favorite Movie (Won) * Favorite Buttkicker (

) (Won) * Favorite Movie Actor (

) (Nominated) 2011 MTV Video Music Aid Japan * Best Song from a Movie ("Never Say Never (Justin Bieber song), Never Say Never" by Justin Bieber featuring

) (Nominated) 2011 MTV Movie Awards * Biggest Badass Star (

) (Nominated) 32nd Young Artist Awards * Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film (

) (Won) 2010 Teen Choice Awards * Choice Summer: Movie (Nominated)

Future

Shortly after the film's release, a sequel was announced to be in development, with Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan and Taraji P. Henson all reprising their roles. Breck Eisner was initially set to direct, but by June 2014 the film had gained new writers and lost Eisner as the director. In April 2017, Eisner returned as director, but in October, Chan stated that the initial script for the film did not work well, and that they would work on new drafts. No progress on the sequel was made and the project was canceled. In a 2021 interview with ''/Film, Slashfilm'', the writers of ''Cobra Kai'', which is a sequel to the original film series, revealed that characters from the 2010 remake are not making appearances in the series, as they are not a part of the "Mr. Miyagi, Miyagi-verse": "We've ruled that out completely.

is mentioned in season 1 of the show as a human, so I think in our world, Jackie Chan is an actor and a performer. If the characters on our show have seen a movie called ''The Karate Kid'', they've seen that one". In September 2022, a new ''Karate Kid'' film was confirmed to be in development, with a release date of June 7, 2024.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Karate Kid, The 2010 films 2010s coming-of-age films African-American drama films American martial arts films American coming-of-age films Remakes of American films Chinese martial arts films Chinese coming-of-age films Columbia Pictures films 2010s English-language films Films about bullying Films about child abuse Films directed by Harald Zwart Films produced by Jada Pinkett Smith Films produced by Will Smith Films scored by James Horner Films set in Beijing Films set in China Films set in Detroit Films shot in Beijing Films shot in China Films shot in Michigan Hong Kong martial arts films The Karate Kid (franchise) films Kung fu films 2010s Mandarin-language films Martial arts films Martial arts tournament films Overbrook Entertainment films 2010 martial arts films Films shot in Detroit 2010 drama films 2010s American films 2010s Hong Kong films