John Crang, stunt coordinator, fighter and author of a book called Fight Choreography – The Art of Non-Verbal Dialogue, recently watched the new film The Karate Kid starring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith and shared his thoughts with Mark Pollard. I think there’s not much point in retelling the plot once again, so I’ll immediately move on to the part dedicated to the fights. So, let's begin.
The fight choreography is very good and the training scenes are also good. The fights are a mixture of elaborate, kinetically paced Hong Kong stylized bouts and short, emotionally aggressive, clumsy Western street brawls. It's a far cry from the crude, stilted turn-based sparring combat of the original that dominated most Western martial arts films from the 1970s and '80s through the Hong Kong era of the '90s. There are a few minor inconsistencies associated with the fights. The final kick that Dre throws at Zhang was never practiced in training (either by Dre or Khan), and that goes for several other moves as well.
What I found problematic were certain sequences where the camera was too close and/or too jerky, making it difficult to understand what was happening during the fight. Thus, the viewer has to mentally piece together parts of the fight in his head, instead of simply witnessing the events unfolding in front of him. This approach is often practiced in the West and it is a shame that it was used in this film, especially considering the presence of talented actors. Fortunately, this doesn't happen throughout the entire film, but there are enough moments like this to make you irritated or annoyed (if you're aware of it). Overall, I found the editing and cinematography to be oddly inconsistent throughout the film, with some fights giving you a clear view of what's going on and other scenes being completely blank.
To sum it up, it's hard not to compare this modernization of a cult film from the 80s that is near and dear to many people. This film is far from perfect, but then again, how many films are perfect? The powerful and heartfelt performances from Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan made me truly love this film.
Author: John Crang
Source: kungfucinema
Translation: EvilDollaR
I just watched this movie today and I liked it. Even at my age, I felt a charge of vivacity after the film! :)
So Jackie began to play the role of a teacher, time passes, and Jackie is already aged, and more than 30 years ago he himself played the role of a clueless student)))
We will see