Netflix Movie of the Day: The Karate Kid is a fun take on the ’80s family favorite
This 2010 remake of the 80s classic The karate child is not only one of the best family films of all time, it also fixes the fact that the original cast was very white and very American. This time around, the title character moves not to California but to Beijing, and the film stars Jaden Smith as the boy and Jackie Chan as his mentor, alongside a number of Chinese stars. The result is undoubtedly exciting, and while it may not be as touching as the 1984 original, it is still an excellent family-friendly action film.
Is The Karate Kid (2010) a real movie?
It does, and for that reason we’d say it’s one of the best Netflix movies – critics disagree – although it is quite long. Its breath-testing two-and-a-half-hour running time means it’s better suited to home viewing.
It’s a classic underdog story with largely the same plot as last time, and it understands that what made the original so magical was the chemistry between Ralph Macchio’s kid and Noriyuki ‘Pat’ Morita’s Mr Miyagi.
As Brian D Johnson writes in Mclean’s magazine: “The ingenuity of The karate childwhich premieres this week, is in the casting process.” Putting a 12-year-old in the lead role (Macchio was already in his 20s when he first landed the role of Daniel LaRusso) really works, and “makes his eventual prowess as a fighter all the more astonishing. And this brash kid with the charm to burn has an ideal foil in martial arts legend Jackie Chan — the remake’s other casting coup.”
It’s “a noisy little crowd pleaser”, Reel Reviews says, and Shadows on the wall agrees. “Although clichéd, unnecessary and way too long, this remake of the 1984 hit is surprisingly engaging.” And while many reviewers were nostalgic for the original, British Daily Mirror was all for the remake: “What should have been another unnecessary, inferior film to the original is actually many times better.”
Don’t forget the other child from the original film: the hit Netflix series Cobra Kai comes from the same universe, and Cobra Kai Season six will be released later this month (July 2024).
