"The Karate Kid" is an iconic film that is truly one of the most beloved films of the 80s.  When the idea came up to do a remake, it definitely had the potential to be something great and renew interest in Martial Arts in this country.  What we got, though successful, was considered by many critics to be a terrible continuation of the Karate Kid series.  But because it was successful, a sequel was immediately given the Green Light, and now a new writer and been brought in to rewrite the script.

Bringing in $359 million world-wide, "The Karate Kid" was a success for Sony and Columbia pictures, and they are hoping for lightning to strike twice with the sequel.  A script has already been turned in by Cyrus Voris and Ethan Reif, but it is customary in Hollywood to to bring in another writer to re-write and build off the original script.  To do this, Sony has tapped Zak Penn to rewrite the script.  Penn is known for his writing duties on films like "X3: The Last Stand", "The Incredible Hulk", and "Last Action Hero".  As of now, Jayden Smith and Jackie Chan haven't signed on for the next film but are expected to do so. 

Doing a second movie might actually be a good chance to address and fix the criticisms brought up about the first film.  A plot point from the original film that carried over to the remake was the lead character, in this case Jayden Smith, romantically pursuing a girl who is in some way attached to the film's rival.  Many felt these characters were too young (not even teenagers yet) to effectively portray a romantic story like this.  Also, in the first movie, it was believable that Daniel could learn Karate from someone like Mr. Miyagi and go on to win the tournament against a bunch of bullies from a strip-mall Karate school.  In this, Dre wins a tournament after only training for a few months against other kids that have been training since they could walk IN CHINA!  Suspension of disbelief can only go so far.  And the biggest problem, which Will Smith and the other producers were aware of, is the title.  Karate is Japanese, Kung Fu is Chinese.  The movie takes place in China, Dre learns Kung Fu, the title should have been "The Kung Fu Kid". 

I just hope that Jayden Smith will be able to do a movie at some point without his parents being directly involved.  The only films he's known for were produced by his parents!  The rumored next project for Will Smith as a producer is a remake of "Annie" starring his daughter Willow.  These kids will never be taken seriously as performers until they are able to stand on their own talents and not be hoisted up by their parents. 

You can check out my favorite review for this movie HERE!

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