New 'Shaolin' Trailer Starring Jackie Chan

There's been so many Kung Fu films recently but these recent films aren't the same as in the past.  The kung fu classics are more of a comedy than action.  Personally, I prefer the new generation of these flicks as the fight scenes are certifiably badass.  

In Shaolin, Andy Lau is a warlord forced to escape to a Shaolin Temple after his family was murdered.  He becomes a monk but his enemies find out his location and unleash an attack on the temple.  To be fair, I titled this post, "starring Jackie Chan" not because he's the main actor but people won't probably recognize the other actors in the film.  Chan seems to play the cook for the monks but it's unclear how much screen time he gets in the film.

Check out the trailer below:

Click to read more ...

Inevitable 'Karate Kid' Sequel Now More Inevitable

Hey, guess what: Jaden Smith's going to take off that jacket again. To no one's surprise, we're getting a Karate Kid sequel, which means we're only a couple movies away from learning the identity of this generation's Hilary Swank. I know you're excited about that prospect.

Anyway, Sony says the sequel will happen, and that the seed was planted a few weeks back. So there haven't been any real developments, like writers, plot, or that sort of thing, but director Harald Zwart tells Entertainment Weekly, “I would absolutely love to do a sequel. I think working with those guys was the best part of my career. So yeah, if they want me, I would love to do it again.” There's no word on Jackie Chan returning as Mr. Han, the Miyagi character he actually did rather well. But if he did Shanghai Knights...I'll let you finish that thought.

Click to read more ...

Movie Review - 'The Karate Kid'

The Karate Kid Starring Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, and Taraji P. Henson Directed by Harald Zwart Rated PG

There was a movie released in 1984 titled The Karate Kid, which spawned a few sequels and found a permanent home in the pop culture lexicon. While many reviews of the new film called The Karate Kid will compare the two, that won't happen here. It simply isn't relevant enough. Remakes, spin-offs, and sequels have been happening for years and if they really bothered audiences that much, they'd stop paying to see them. The trick is to find a new way of presenting the story, eliminating comparisons by creating films that stand or fall over on their own merits. A Nightmare on Elm Street remake doesn't do that but this movie does. The Karate Kid isn't great entertainment but it's a well-meaning, well-assembled, and well-oiled family film that has simple, easily defined goals, has touching performances and never sets itself up for failure. Without going into too much detail, the circumstances that force Dre (Jaden Smith) and his mother (Taraji P. Henson) to move from Detroit to Beijing resonate pretty loudly: She works in auto manufacturing at a time when that's not the most stable thing to be doing in Michigan. So it's China or Option B, whatever that is. Obviously, 12-year-old Dre has trouble fitting in. Most kids speak very little English, and he speaks no Chinese. Hower, he does instantly connect with Meiying (Wenwen Han), a female student at his school, but their friendship annoys a group of young boys, who knock the living daylights out of Dre a couple times. During one such encounter, Dre's bacon is saved by Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), the maintenance man at his apartment building. Han is demonstrably very good at kung fu, and soon, Han begins an unusual training regimen for the 12-year-old, a lot of which stems from repetitive exercises of taking his jacket off and putting it back on again. The goal, as much as self-preservation, dignity, and honor, is an open kung fu tournament set to take place, oh, around the end of the movie. Get out your ruler and draw that straight line from point A to point B.

Click to read more ...

Second Impressive Trailer for the 'Karate Kid' Remake

I think everybody was a little surprised that the first trailer for The Karate Kid was actually pretty good. Maybe the holiday spirit or something, but the Jaden Smith/Jackie Chan flick looked like a pretty solid summer family movie, he said swallowing his pride.

Here's round two. There are a lot of things we've already seen, but we get a few new glimpses, including the young antagonist. He looks like a dead ringer for a young Bolo Yeung. Remember him as the guy in Bloodsport who was quite obviously on steriods? He was also great and menacing in Enter the Dragon. I have to say, yet again, that this trailer is above sea level. Kids are absolutely going to eat this up, and it doesn't appear to be an arduous trip to the theater for the parents. Not saying it's going to be great - and remember, it's just a trailer - but it's safe to say I expected much, much less. Out of both trailers, in fact.

Click to read more ...

'Karate Kid' Remake Testing "Through the Roof"

Around Christmas, the first trailer for the update of The Karate Kid was released. There's lots to pick on about that movie: Will Smith bankrolling a project for his son in an effort to make him a star, the fact that young Jaden is both physically too small and chronologically a little young, the pesky reminder that, even though karate does have roots in China, it would be a lot more common to just have The Kung-Fu Kid if you're going to make the movie there, and so on.

But actually...the trailer's not bad at all. For the audience (families), it actually looks like a ground rule double or, against really weak pitching, a possible home run. Little Jaden seems up to the task and Jackie Chan appears intense and focused. Now comes news (via Entertainment Weekly) that the film is testing "through the roof" with audiences. Sony tells the magazine that the approval rating for The Karate Kid is in the 97th percentile, which as you can figure out, is excellent. The studio's record setter in that department is Hitch, so the magazine says, and that did very well for Smith a few years ago. And there's no reason to think this remake was going to do poorly even before hearing that number.

Click to read more ...