Karate Kid Trailer

Will Smith Procreates and We Have to Suffer the Damage

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Trailers | Comments (43)

I’ve seen, in a few places, people say that the new Karate Kid trailer looks “pretty good” or “watchable” or, in some way, not offensive to your senses. I’m going to have to respectfully disagree. It’s painful on nearly every level. It hurts to watch, not just because of my nostalgic fondness for the original (which isn’t that good, if you take out the nostalgia), but because it look so horribly generic. Say what you want about his movies, but Will Smith’s flicks are rarely generic — you can’t say the same about his son, Jaden, who stars in the remake alongside Jackie Chan in the Pat Morita role (so wrong). The hip-hop music is grating; the Jaden kid makes me want to punch children (not my own — let’s keep DSS out of this); and it makes me feel terrible for a younger generation who will only know this version of Karate Kid and, likely, will have some sort of misguided nostalgic affection for it 20 years from now.

You’re supposed to save the training montage for the film, by the by. Not make it the crux of your trailer. Guh.

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Comments

can't make me watch this trailer. the header pic alone makes me cringe.

can we just ignore this?

Posted by: gp at December 23, 2009 9:53 AM

Jackie Chan was cool when I was younger with all his stunts and stuff but he stopped being relevant a long time ago. Can't even remember which of his alst movies I actually enjoyed.

Will Smith's son is only in movies because he is Will Smith's son so it's no wonder he's in generic movies.

Posted by: barf at December 23, 2009 9:54 AM

In addition to making me want to punch a child, this trailer made me want to forcefully shave a kid's head, and maybe rub some dirt in his or her face.

Seriously, do they make that kid sleep in a tank containing a mixture of skin cream and tooth whitener?

Posted by: logar at December 23, 2009 10:03 AM

God damn it, I laughed at the joke at the end of the trailer. They got me.

God damn it.

Posted by: Paul Southworth at December 23, 2009 10:04 AM

i can't watch it. i won't.
i loved the fresh prince so much back in the day...
how could it all go so terribly wrong? jada? scientology?

Posted by: gem at December 23, 2009 10:11 AM

Anyone else disturbed by Jackie Chan's voice inflection when he says "Jacket Off!"?

...yeah.

Posted by: PissBoy at December 23, 2009 10:15 AM

And he's wearing a fucking Detroit Lions shirts. You already know he's a loser.

Posted by: PissBoy at December 23, 2009 10:17 AM

The fly in the end did some Great actig. Cool stunt.

I bet he was proud to work with Jackie.

Posted by: Magiel at December 23, 2009 10:18 AM

Eerie how much his inflection/cadence/whatever is JUST LIKE HIS FATHER. Crap, this movie is gonna make a gajillion dollars on opening weekend, especially when word gets out that he does the "Aaw, HELL NAW"...

Posted by: malikvlc at December 23, 2009 10:26 AM

That is one good-looking kid. And now I feel nasty (again).

Posted by: Bizarro Sofía at December 23, 2009 10:26 AM

I'm not watching either. This is sacrilege.

Posted by: Cindy at December 23, 2009 10:28 AM

Ah...I still like Jackie. You know the only reason he does crappy movies like this is so he can produce the stuff he likes in Hong Kong. Plus I always laugh at the blooper reels he does at the end of films like this.

In two years, I will totally watch this on TNT.

Posted by: NotesOnMyBathroomMirror at December 23, 2009 10:31 AM

So wait, let me get this straight. You thought the Blind Side trailer was acceptable, but this is offensive to your senses?

I mean, sure this looks like crap, but really???

Posted by: Dre Strangelove at December 23, 2009 10:32 AM

No Zabka, no Shue, no Kresee, no Halloween shower costume, an angry Miyagi, and what was that piss-poor excuse for Cobra-Kai?

Get this shit a body bag! Yeah!

Posted by: ed newman at December 23, 2009 10:36 AM

And can I just say how disappointed I am that he's gone into acting and not rapping?

For years, I've been waiting for the big showdown between the son of The Fresh Prince and the son of Master P (named Romeo, because of course he is). No, the fathers never had any beef while they were emcees, and neither have crossed paths while pursuing their acting careers - but dammit this would have been the coolest showdown since Laila Ali and Jacqui Frazier!

It's not like they can challenge each other to line-readings...

Posted by: malikvlc at December 23, 2009 10:50 AM

Man what happened to Chan? Is he broke or owe taxes or something?

Posted by: John W at December 23, 2009 10:54 AM

Awesome that this movie is advocating fighting school bullies. (Although I'm unfamiliar with the others, did they do that too?)

I do kinda wish schools here did that group exercise thing. Call me crazy but that always looked like fun.

Posted by: Ling at December 23, 2009 10:55 AM

Is it just me or does Jaden Smith seem a bit young for this part? I mean it just seems weird. Like he shouldn't be shirtless and whatnot.

Posted by: griffimx at December 23, 2009 10:57 AM

Come on everyone, say it with me:

AWWW HELL NAAAWWWWWW!!!!

Posted by: Fredo at December 23, 2009 11:00 AM

Here's my beef: there are so few roles out there for black actors, much less black CHILD actors. Why is Will Smith having his kid take the role from some other hardworking black child actor, like one of those kids from The Wire (who presumably need the money/experience more than his nepotastic son)? I also think his kid's a shitty actor, but that's kind of beside the point.

Posted by: samantha t at December 23, 2009 11:08 AM

I'd prefer if Master P just died in a crawfish accident. He's seriously one step of intelligence away from being Soldja Boy:

"Make 'em say UUNGH! UNGH!
Make 'em say UUNGH! UNGH!"

Posted by: George at December 23, 2009 11:28 AM

Totally feel you on that, George. How the fuck that crap became a hit, when they totally miss the point of call-and-response in hip hop? It's meant to bring the audience into the performance with you - NOT be the whole fucking song...

Talentless, lyric-less, and pointless.

Posted by: malikvlc at December 23, 2009 11:44 AM

Ralph Macchio in the Karate Kid ushered me into puberty and looking at boys "that way" (although I found out later he was like 20 when he did that movie, so maybe he was the reason I like my men older...Mr. Scorzi is 43 and I'm 28.)

Where was I? Oh yeah, this kid needs a roundhouse to the face for trying to desecrate this piece of pop culture. The fact that he's already rich and famous cause of his father is salt in the wounds. Let's pray it bombs at the box office.

Posted by: scorzi at December 23, 2009 11:58 AM

Just remember fellow Pajibians, you're the best....around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qae_TUTeGo

Posted by: scorzi at December 23, 2009 12:01 PM

I agree the fly swatter thing was funny.

But everything else is just wrong, wrong, wrong. Jaden is not a cute kid. He's way too young for this role. He's a pipsqueak fer chrissake. And Jackie Chan ... much as I like him, this is just the wrong role. It's been quite awhile since I've seen such miscasting.

Posted by: MsEllenT at December 23, 2009 12:02 PM

If you want to see what most of the original Karate Kid cast looks like, check out this video by No More Kings called "Sweep the Leg." Have no idea how they got Zabka but it warms my heart!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFlQNtL8F9s

Posted by: scorzi at December 23, 2009 12:08 PM

Without knowing too much about what kind of martial arts style is used in the movie, karate is Japanese (translating to the 'way of the hand'), and they definitely affirmed the movie is in China; I thought they were going to call it the "Kung Fu Kid" or something? Most Americans probably won't care about the cultural differences, but ehhhh.

Posted by: Mike Newcomb at December 23, 2009 12:12 PM

Mike, I thought I read somewhere it was going to be called the Kung Fu Kid, which would be more appropriate. I'm assuming the style in the movie is Wushu but that's just a guess. This premise was bad enough when it was Ralph Macchio learning Karate in about 6 weeks. Now the kid's going to go to China and compete? gah.

Posted by: mrcreosote at December 23, 2009 1:20 PM

Alright, two things.
Aside from how much this is going to suck, one, did I just watch Jackie Chan beat up a gang of chinese 12 year olds? I realise they're all lethally trained martial artists but seriously, did he just beat up a gang of children?
Two, clearly Jaden's sack splitting high kick is gonna be their version of the crane kick from the original.
Which begs the question, what is he kicking so high for when his opponents are the same height as him, and, if that high kick is their crane kick, how are they going to do the iconic 'damaged knee leads to AWESOME VICTORY OVER COBRA KAI' scene at the end?
You cant do a kick like that with a bum knee.

Posted by: Nadine at December 23, 2009 3:14 PM

Also, the same point above as everyone pointing out the obvious JAPANESE MARTIAL ARTS MOVIE set in china, issue

Posted by: Nadine at December 23, 2009 3:15 PM

I gotta say that was surprisingly watchable, except it had that fucking percentage song laid over it. Get a new song.

Posted by: HappyGobo at December 23, 2009 3:59 PM

I'm with several others in the thread. This is NOT karate. it's fucking kung-fu. I can't tell which style in the seconds we get to see, but it's a gorram insult to call it The Karaate Kid.

Jebuspus...

Posted by: trib at December 23, 2009 4:13 PM

@trib: you fucking said it man. That mis-step alone should be reason enough to avoid this movie. It looks to me to be simply movie wushu, and yes it is a goddamn insult to call it "The Karate Kid".

Posted by: Kris at December 23, 2009 5:41 PM

Ok...shoot me.
I thought the trailer looks like it has the possibility to be better than the original. Why? Go back and look at the martial arts of the first film. The fight scenes were slow, the choreography delivered, and there was simply no intensity (save for the last fight, which was due to music and pacing). Here you see fight scenes that are slick and well choreographed.

Will this appeal to the new generation? Of course it will. It's face paced, features a face they know (Jackie Chan), one they will come to know (Smith), and discusses how to stand up for yourself (so...you know...kids might actually fight in school instead of killing each other).

Posted by: DeistBrawler at December 23, 2009 5:42 PM

Oh, fuck off and die, Smithling.

That kid has about as much charisma as a dish sponge that's been sitting in dirty water for three days.

Posted by: redhead at December 23, 2009 5:58 PM

So how soon into the movie before we here the first "Oh Hell NO!" I have 21 minutes.

By the way do they teach Karate in China? Just asking....

Posted by: John W at December 23, 2009 9:50 PM

"Get him an extra-small bodybag! YEAAAAHHH!"

Posted by: muchsarcasm at December 23, 2009 10:00 PM

This trailer makes the movie look pretty lame, but in the same vein I'm pretty sure I'm going to see it. i don't really harbor any resentment towards the original, but I never loved it, even having watched it as an 8 year old.
Also, I always thought the bad "sweep the legs" guy from the second movie was steven seagal; totally wrong on that one.

Posted by: jackychops at December 24, 2009 12:30 AM

JACK-et off!!!!

/fucking priceless

Posted by: MikeG at December 24, 2009 6:07 AM

Correct me if I’m wrong, and I know I have not seen the movie (nor will I), but is it me or is that high kick at the end of the trailer look computer generated? I agree with other comments, such a kick is completely foolish. I think they use this in their marketing because its looks cool and that’s all. Many dojos in my region try to impress potential recruits in their marketing with the same bullshito kick poses.

Posted by: YeahRight at December 24, 2009 11:53 AM

Thousands of American childhoods being raped as this trailer is released into the internets. Guh-rahh-fucking black kid.

Posted by: ohherewegoagain at December 26, 2009 10:43 AM

...am I the only one who thought that this was hilarious? Not by any effort on the behalf of the makers of the movie, though...

Posted by: Zac at December 27, 2009 10:53 AM

RE: LIONS shirt - the loser comment and
PISSBOY - now there's a winner name!
LOL...........

Posted by: bo at June 2, 2010 6:25 PM

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Will Smith Procreates and We Have to Suffer the Damage

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